Cement, Energy and Environment

Abou t 0.7 tonnes o fC0 2 are emi tted during the manufacture of one tonne of cement, so the net product corresponds approximately to the proceeds which can be obtained from the sale o f the r ela ted quota of emi ss ions . As a consequence, it cou ld be more lucrative for the ntanufach1rers to dispose of their loca I emission ri ghts and to move at leas t the mos t energy inten sive part of cem er,r manufac ture, the burning process, to countries outside Europe. There is already s ufficient ca pacity available a round the world to be able supply the domestic market. Another point· for criticism in th e directive is th e inadeq ua te consideration g iven to the ag reemen t entered into between Ge rman indus try and the Ge rman government on clima te protecti on which was extended onl y in November 2000. Thi s agreem ent with its volunta ry measures has demons trabl y proved to be the mos t s uccess ful ins trument for reducing CO, emissions. The German industry, for example, has by itselt contributed 30% to the to tal European climate protection a im of minus W% relative to 1990. It is precisely the energy intensive industries which have substantially optimized their production processes in recent years. Further potential for abatement costs are extremely high. If abatement a ims have to be achieved by buying emission certificates then German production sites are threatened with extinction. Advoca tes of emissions trad ing systems point to the economic ad vantages which trade w ith emi ssion cer ti ficates e nt ails for t hose participating in the market. Indeed , S0 2 trade in the USA shows that it can be more economical to buy emiss ion ri ghts than to reduce the emi ssions by technica l exh aus t gas cleaning measures. However, thi s cannot be applied to abatement of C0 2 emissions. On the one hand, no aba tement technologies are available for this greenhouse gas and on the other hand the co! emissions are a 1000 times h igher than the so2 emissions in all thermal p rocesses. Another crucial weak point o f the d irective on emi ss ions trading is that its jurisdiction is confined to Europe. Even extens ion to all the countr ies which sign the Kyoto Protocol would not remedy the situation . The abatement aims of the individual coun tries are on the wh ole too d iverse and would the re fore lead to drastic compe titive dis tor tion to the d etriment o f German production s ites. As long as many countries are not even included in the abatement stra tegies of the Kyoto process it w ill always be economically more pro fitable to import energy intensive products from these countries and run d own the European production facil ities . However, this would prove a disservice to global climate protection . Courtesy: ZKC Tnterniltionill No. 3/2002, Pp 22-23, Filx: +49(0)6123700-122 Email: ZKG@Bauverla.g.de