Dear Editor,
I was interested to see the recent feature ‘Why concrete?’ on stabroeknews.com. I’m the Head of Media at the GCCA, the Global Cement and Concrete Association. The GCCA, which was set up nearly 5 years ago, now represents 80% of all global cement manufacturers outside of China, as well as some leading Chinese manufacturers. Concrete is the second most-used material on earth after water, vital for infrastructure and the built environment and the GCCA is pioneering efforts to reduce the industry’s environmental impact.
While concrete currently accounts for 7-8% of global emissions, (similar to other global industries) with the launch of our roadmap, we became the first heavy industry to set out a detailed plan to reach net zero by 2050. And one year on, we’re already making significant progress, including further reductions in CO2 levels of cement-related material.
There’s lots of exciting work going on within the cement and concrete industry to address CO2 emissions – including the development of replacements for clinker (which is the carbon intensive element of the manufacturing process), the adoption of renewable energy and development of carbon capture. We’ve just launched our Innovandi Open Challenge, which this year will see leading manufacturers working with start-ups around the world on materials and alternative manufacturing processes for low carbon concrete. Innovandi – Open Challenge: GCCA (gccassociation.org) Applications close on 15th May.
The first Challenge in 2020, has already seen three of the six selected start-ups working on Carbon Capture go to the pilot stage. If you’re interested in featuring some of this work, and our Net Zero Roadmap, please let me know. We can help find case studies. Also, our executive team are experts in their respective fields and about business / net zero and available for interview.
Sincerely,
Thomas Guillot
Chief Executive
Claude Loréa
Cement Director and Head of
Innovation
Dr. Andrew Minson
Concrete and Sustainable
Construction Director
Simon Thomson
Head of Media, Global Cement and
Concrete Association (GCCA)
