Concrete

Behind the scenes of MissionZero: What, why and how?

Published

5 years ago

March 5, 2021

admin

??e??e had an overwhelming response to our announcement of MissionZero: zero use of fossil fuels and zero emissions in cement by 2030. Whilst ambitious, it?? a necessary step to take to meet the urbanisation needs of a growing population. Here is the what, why and how innovation will help us get there.??Thomas Petithuguenin, Innovation Manager, FLSmidth

Since the announcement of our sustainability programme, MissionZero, we??e heard a lot from our customers, industry stakeholders and the media. There has been a mix of scepticism, excitement and great anticipation. The dust has since settled, and we are busy tackling the task from all possible angles.

MissionZero comes with the responsibility of pulling the weight of an entire industry, looking for solutions that will not only reduce our environmental impact, but do so without jeopardising profitability and economic growth.

Innovation plays a crucial role in MissionZero because its main purpose is to improve efficiency, which go hand in hand

with lowering resource consumption: the essence of sustainability.

Numbers don?? lie

Concrete is the second most-used substance on Earth due to its versatility and durability. It is estimated that by 2030, about 4.8 billion annual metric tonnes of cement will be needed to support a population growth of approximately 1.2 billion people.

If we are to provide future generations with the high-quality infrastructure that we have grown accustomed to, we need to change our current practices. MissionZero may be ambitious, but we are willing to take responsibility and lead the cement industry towards a carbon-neutral future.

Looking forward, cement production is expected to increase at a regular annual rate of five percent. With cement plants currently operating at close to 70 percent of global capacity, the number of new plants required to meet market growth is limited.

It is therefore essential that solutions developed to reduce CO2 emissions at cement plants are competitive in a cost-conscious market, and that they can be retrofitted on existing plants.

Baseline

CO2 emissions from cement production come from three main sources:

Calcination of limestone (approx. 56 percent)
Combustion of fuels (approx. 37 percent)
Power consumption (approx. 7 percent)

These values are based on a cement plant that emits 0.89 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement produced. Of course, these numbers can vary from site to site based on cement composition, fuel substitution and process efficiency. This information is being used as our baseline to meet the objectives of MissionZero.

Innovation focus

Achieving our MissionZero objectives by 2030 requires focus on innovation milestones that:

Facilitate the use of alternative fuels over fossil fuels
Increase the practice of clay calcination and thereby reduce the volume of clinker
Introduce circular economy and alternative raw materials

The road ahead

The roadmap for the next decade is pitched to be filled with research and development opportunities, collaboration between industry stakeholders and a wide range of product innovation activities. Our plan has three phases with different focuses.

Phase one

Over the next two years, we will make it easier to obtain 100 percent alternative fuel firing and complete fuel flexibility. The latter describes the ability to fire a variety of fuel types to avoid relying on a single source. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is an example of alternative fuel.

We will focus our effort on gasification technology, to first produce stable, clean and sustainable combustion gas in the calciner; and as a second step, deploy this solution to the main burner.

Meanwhile we will use process control solutions to maintain clinker quality while firing fuels of varying properties. This will enable fuel flexibility, i.e. the ability to fire a variety of fuel types and avoid reliance on a single source. Research in alternative sources of heat, such as solar, nuclear, and electric, as well as the development of heat-free calcination is also being conducted.

Phase two

Spanning five years, phase two started in 2020 and focuses on lowering the volume of clinker by accelerating deployment of clay calcination and promoting the use of clinker/clay/limestone blends.

The first step will be to demonstrate industrial-scale clay calcination for use as a cementitious binder, and second step is to decarbonize this process via electrification. Clay is particularly interesting as it is abundant in growth regions which also face a lack of good quality limestone.

Phase three

Sustainability and circular economy go hand-in-hand. Once phase two has wrapped up, we??l turn our focus to leveraging this final phase. The goal is to reduce overall calcination emissions. Where this is not possible, the emissions will be offset through producing brown fuels. There are three pathways that can contribute to this goal:

Deploy geopolymers to commercialise a process solution for cementitious binders with extremely low clinker content.
Replace limestone with cement recycled from old concrete structures. This strategy will effectively bring calcination emissions down to zero.
Use the cement plant to produce synthetic fuels, which are drop-in replacement fuels. By using a larger version of our alternative fuel gasifier, it will be possible to recycle waste into useful hydrocarbons for the aviation and maritime industries. This pathway has the potential to earn additional revenue, dispose of more waste, and close the carbon loop by replacing fossil hydrocarbons with recycled hydrocarbons.

Natural progression

The solutions being described in our roadmap are not revolutionary, more of a natural evolution of the many efforts already ongoing across the FLSmidth Group. What needs to happen now is cohesive collaboration across our industry to create solutions that will get us there by 2030.

I hope that this behind-the-scenes glimpse answers some of the questions raised following the announcement of MissionZero. Perhaps it will spark new questions and generate more conversations, which will raise even more awareness around sustainability in the cement industry. Every industry and individual has a part to play if we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thomas Petithuguenin

Innovation Manager, FLSmidth

Discover more: https://www.flsmidth.com/en-gb/company/sustainability

Concrete

Cement Makers’ Margins To Fall Rs 50-75 Per Tonne Amid West Asia Conflict

Crisil Sees Margins Easing Despite Steady Demand

Published

2 weeks ago

July 29, 2026

admin

Crisil said operating margins of Indian cement manufacturers are expected to decline by Rs 50-75 per tonne (t) this fiscal to Rs 925-950 per t due to higher input costs triggered by the West Asia conflict. The analysis covered 18 cement companies accounting for nearly 90 per cent of India’s domestic cement capacity and noted margins had improved sharply to around Rs 1,000 per t in fiscal 2026.

Crisil noted that the reduction would be driven mainly by higher power and fuel costs, which account for about 30 per cent of total costs, as petcoke and imported coal prices have surged amid geopolitical uncertainties. Freight costs, which account for about a quarter of total costs, are also expected to remain elevated because of higher diesel prices. The impact on profitability is likely to be more pronounced in the first half of the fiscal year before easing commodity prices moderate cost pressures later.

The rating agency said steady domestic demand and strong balance sheets should keep credit profiles stable despite the moderation in margins. Green energy currently accounts for 35-40 per cent of the sector’s total electricity consumption and is expected to partly cushion higher energy costs. Operating cash flows are likely to remain resilient, supported by projected 6-7 per cent growth in cement demand this fiscal.

Crisil highlighted that demand growth will be driven primarily by infrastructure spending, which meets about one-third of sector consumption, and by a nearly 18 per cent higher budgetary allocation for core ministries that should support project execution. Weaker rural housing demand amid pressure on agricultural incomes from a possible below-average monsoon may be offset by improved urban housing demand supported by favourable home-loan rates and a strong pipeline of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban projects. Ongoing capacity additions will keep capital expenditure elevated and may lift net debt to EBITDA to between 1.2 and 1.4 times from around 1.0 time last fiscal, though ratios are expected to remain healthy.

Concrete

UltraTech Board Approves Rs 50 bn Fundraise Via NCDs

Company to issue half a million debentures for expansion plan

Published

2 weeks ago

July 28, 2026

admin

UltraTech Cement’s board of directors has approved raising Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 bn) through non?convertible debentures issued in rupees.

The finance committee cleared a proposal to issue up to 500,000 fully paid, unsecured, listed, rated, redeemable, rupee?denominated, non?convertible, non?cumulative debentures of Rs 1 lakh each (Rs 0.1 mn each), aggregating to the Rs 5,000 crore programme.

As of June 2026 the firm reported net debt of Rs 15,875 crore (Rs 158.75 bn) and said its capacity expansion projects under execution are backed by capital expenditure of about Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 bn) over the next two to two?and?a?half years.

UltraTech spent Rs 9,500 crore (Rs 95 bn) on capital expenditure in financial year 2026 and in April the group crossed 200.1 mn tonnes per annum of domestic grey cement capacity and 205.5 mn tonnes per annum of global capacity.

The chief financial officer indicated the company would take consolidated capacity beyond 242 mn tonnes per annum, with grey cement capacity reaching 212.7 mn tonnes per annum by the end of financial year 2027. He noted the net debt?to?earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation ratio stood at 0.87 times as of June 2026 and the company was confident of ending financial year 2027 with the ratio below one time.

In the first quarter of financial year 2026?27 UltraTech’s net profit attributable to owners rose 16.8 per cent year?on?year to Rs 2,599.3 crore (Rs 25.993 bn) and revenue from operations increased 15.9 per cent to Rs 24,648.20 crore (Rs 246.482 bn). The board approval is expected to complement internal cash flows as the company advances its expansion programme.

Concrete

Lokesh Lays Stone For Rs 31 Billion Cement Unit In Kadapa

Line-2 expansion to make Kadapa a major cement hub

Published

3 weeks ago

July 20, 2026

admin

Andhra Pradesh Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the Line-2 expansion of Dalmia Bharat Cement at Chinnakomerla village in Mylavaram Mandal in Kadapa district. The project carries an investment of Rs 31 billion (bn) and is slated for completion by the third quarter of the financial year 2028. The expansion is intended to boost industrial growth and employment generation across the Rayalaseema region.

Once commissioned, the Kadapa facility will become Dalmia Bharat’s largest integrated cement manufacturing ecosystem in southern India, creating over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and opening new business avenues for regional micro, small and medium enterprises and transport operators. Lokesh said the expansion signalled growing corporate confidence in the state and reflected the practical ease of doing business that secured repeat investment.

He placed the project within the government’s wider economic targets and recalled the Yuvagalam padayatra commitment to generate two million (mn) jobs within five years, noting that the state would cultivate talent while industry created opportunities. Lokesh highlighted Andhra Pradesh’s competitive pursuit of major manufacturing accounts, mentioning past successes and a personal initiative to engage global investors when persuading them to anchor expansion in the state.

The plant will leverage Kadapa’s abundant limestone reserves to scale production and sustainability. Clinker capacity is planned to rise from two point five million tonnes per annum (mn tpa) to six point one mn tpa, while overall cement output will increase from three point six mn tpa to nine point six mn tpa. The unit is designed to operate on over eighty per cent renewable energy and deploy waste heat recovery, zero liquid discharge, water recycling and advanced AI systems to optimise efficiency. Industries Minister TG Bharat, BC Welfare Minister S. Savitha and Jammalamadugu MLA C. Adinarayana Reddy attended the ceremony.