Cement Energy Environment

44 JOINT APPROACH OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR INDIAN CEMENT INDUSTRIES Around the world, countries face ever increasing demand for natural resources. Now we already use more resources than the planet is capable of regenerating, so we must find ways to utilize less energy, water, materials, and resources in general. Hence, sustainability is the critical challenge for mankind in this century. Cement is the largest manufactured product on our planet by mass. Every year on average, raw materials for world cement industry currently consumes more than one-third of the total materials extracted from the earth. India is the second largest cement producer in the world with 334.48 million tonnes in 2020. Cement production results in large-scale emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) and particulate matter due to massive consumption of natural resources such as limestone, clay, and gypsum and of fuel in clinkering process and in necessary captive power generation in many cases. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is based on the concept of Life Cycle Thinking which integrates consumption and production strategies over a whole life cycle without shifting the environmental burden. LCA is a very helpful iterative environmental tool, it not only provides an Abstract account of materials and energy involved in a product or system but also measures the potentiality of various environmental impacts associated and explores environmentally suitable alternates. Circular Economy (CE) further supplements the environmental parameters in terms of economy to explore use of resource conservation, alternate fuel and use of renewable energy for electricity generation for financial benefits and environmental good. The circular economy is based on sustainable use of resources. In a circular economy, the value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible; waste and resource use are minimized, and resources are kept within the economy. The circular economy principles like reduce, reuse, and recycle materials and energy describe different possibilities to practice. The current global interest in CE opens an opportunity to make society’s consumption and production patterns more resource efficient. Assessing CE strategies requires addressing the technical and scientific challenges involved across the life cycle of such strategies, as well as the broader implications for the sustainability of both emerging and developed economies. LCA is a crucial assessment methodology to inform and improve CE strategies by comparing By Dr S N Pati Director NICE Consultants, Faridabad & Former Joint Director, NCB