Concrete

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

Published

6 years ago

March 5, 2021

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??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

Jammu Division Begins First Cement Rail Traffic to Anantnag

Cement Loading From Kathua for Anantnag to Begin on September 14

Published

23 hours ago

September 21, 2026

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Jammu Railway Division has placed an indent for the first movement of cement by rail within the division, linking Shaheed Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary Kathua Railway Station with Anantnag Railway Station. Loading for the consignment is scheduled to begin on September 14.

Concrete

Hard Worker Wins Three Honours at Kyoorius Design Awards

Ramco Cements’ brand secures Grand Prix and two Blue Elephant honours.

Published

23 hours ago

September 21, 2026

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The Ramco Cements Limited’s construction chemicals brand, Hard Worker, has won three honours at the Kyoorius Design Awards 2026, including the Grand Prix – Grey Elephant in the Design in Action category.

The brand also secured two Blue Elephant honours, one for Design in Action and another for Packaging, recognising the design approach behind its brand identity and packaging.

Launched in 2025, Hard Worker entered the construction chemicals segment with the brand promise, “Hard-working products for hardworking people.” Its visual identity uses animals and birds to represent product benefits. The camel represents the water-retention capability of Hard Worker Eco Plaster, while the cheetah represents the speed and performance of Hard Worker Block Fix.

The visual language has been extended across packaging, retail, communication, literature, digital platforms and other brand touchpoints. Hard Worker uses bold colours, distinctive animal illustrations and simple visual storytelling to communicate product benefits across markets and audiences, including construction workers and applicators.

“For Hard Worker, design was never an afterthought. It was fundamental to how we wanted to build the brand. In a category that is largely functional, we wanted to create a brand that people could recognise, understand and remember instantly. The Kyoorius recognition is a wonderful validation of this design-led approach,” said Mr. AV Dharmakrishnan, CEO, The Ramco Cements Limited.

Mr. Balaji K. Moorthy, Executive Director – Marketing, Ramco Cements said “In a category where communication has traditionally been product-led and functional, we wanted Hard Worker to stand apart by making design an integral part of the brand experience. From the distinctive animal-led packaging to our communication across consumer and trade touchpoints, every element was designed to make the brand more memorable and the product benefits easier to understand.”

Within its first 12 months, Hard Worker crossed Rs 3.5 bn in sales. The latest recognition follows six honours secured by the brand’s campaign at the Kyoorius Creative Awards earlier in 2026, including the Grey Elephant Grand Prix for its Eco Plaster film.

The Kyoorius Design Awards recognise outstanding design work in India’s visual communications sector across multiple categories and platforms. The 2026 awards were announced on 12 September in Goa.

The Ramco Cements Limited is part of the Ramco Group and operates across cement and allied building-material solutions. Hard Worker is its construction chemicals brand, offering solutions across key construction applications.

Concrete

Cement Firms to Invest Rs. 130 bn in Green Energy by FY28

Cement companies plan to expand clean energy capacity to 6 GW by FY28

Published

5 days ago

September 17, 2026

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India’s major cement companies are set to raise their clean energy capacity to 6 GW by March 2028 from around 4 GW at the end of March 2026, according to ratings agency ICRA. The planned expansion is expected to involve investments of Rs. 130 bn over the next two years.

The additional capacity could generate annual savings of Rs. 62 bn to Rs. 67 bn, resulting in an estimated payback period of 1.8 to 2.2 years. Cement is an emission-intensive industry, and leading producers have established net-zero roadmaps covering the next 15 to 20 years.

The calcination process accounts for 57 to 60 per cent of the sector’s total emissions, while fuel combustion contributes 27 to 30 per cent and electricity consumption accounts for 10 to 13 per cent. ICRA said the figures highlighted the need for a broad decarbonisation strategy involving green power, blended cement, alternative fuels and improvements in clinker efficiency.

Green energy is considered one of the most commercially attractive decarbonisation options because it can reduce emissions while lowering operating costs. Every 5 per cent increase in green power replacement can reduce power and fuel costs by Rs. 15 to Rs. 16 per tonne. A 25 per cent replacement level could therefore save Rs. 75 to Rs. 80 per tonne and expand operating margins by 140 to 160 basis points.

Cement producers are also assessing carbon capture, utilisation and storage, although high implementation costs, energy requirements and limited transport and storage infrastructure are expected to slow commercial adoption. The government has proposed Rs. 200 bn over five years to support deployment across key sectors. Meanwhile, companies are targeting thermal substitution rates of 10 to 15 per cent over the next three to five years, compared with the current industry level of around 6 per cent.