Source: The huge climate problem of cement, steel and… | Canary Media
These three materials are essential, carbon-intensive and produced in mind-bogglingly large quantities.
GEOFF MCGHEE, MARIA VIRGINIA OLANO
This article is part of our special series “The Tough Stuff: Decarbonizing steel, cement and chemicals.” Get caught up here.
Cement, steel and chemicals are some of the most extensively produced materials in the world. They’re also among the largest global sources of carbon emissions — manufacturing them releases more CO2 into the atmosphere each year than all of the emissions generated by the United States.
These materials are so emissions-intensive not just because of how they’re made, but also because of how much of them the world uses. Here’s how the annual production of cement, steel and chemicals stacks up against one of the most notoriously massive things in the United States, the Grand Canyon:
(Source: International Energy Agency, RMI)
Concrete — the main end use of cement — is the most abundant manufactured material on the planet. It’s strong, durable and easily molded into different shapes, which is why various forms of it have been used for millennia as a key component of humanity’s built environment. Cement makes up just 10 to 15 percent of concrete by volume, but it is responsible for about 90 percent of concrete’s carbon emissions. In 2022 alone, the world produced more than 4 billion metric tons of cement, a 27 percent increase from 2010. Put that all together, and it would form a cube that measures more than 4,500 feet on each side.
Steel, an iron alloy, can be found in nearly everything you look at, from kitchen appliances to cars to buildings, bridges and other everyday infrastructure. It’s also instrumental to clean energy technology and can be found in equipment such as wind turbines and solar panel racking. Last year, 1.9 billion metric tons of steel were produced around the world.
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