Energy and emission intensity of concrete

Abstract

The construction industry has a major impact on the environment - the vast amounts of non renewable resources consumed, the way new buildings alter the landscape, the amounts of construction waste generated... Concrete is one of the most commonly used construction material in the world, including locally. The huge popularity of concrete also carries environmental costs, including high energy consumption and CO2 release during the production. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the amount of energy used and C02 emission generated during the production of local concrete on a both cradle to gate and cradle to grave level. Given the particularity of local concrete production, the assessment includes the effect of importation of cement from foreign countries and the extraction of local coralline limestone for the production of concrete. Given the scenario where the supply of good quality aggregate is becoming scarcer, the effect of using imported aggregate as well as aggregate recycling in concrete have been studied.