Mitigation of CO2-emissions is becoming mandatory in most countries in order to comply with Paris Agreement commitments. Sooner or later, CO2-emissions will become a significant liability for any emitter.
LC3, a blended cement composed of only 50% clinker, can successfully replace OPC with significantly lower production costs and CAPEX. Additionally, LC3 will eventually replace blended cement made of fly ash or slag as their availability decreases and their cost increases.
Suitable clays, LC3’s main SCM, are abundantly available worldwide and especially where demand is the highest. Initial economic feasibility assessments demonstrate that LC3-production is financially attractive in most scenarios, whether it is in an existing cement plant, in a grinding station, or a greenfield project. In fact, LC3-production cost is up to 25% percent lower compared to OPC-production.
Three different implementation scenarios were analysed the financial attractiveness study:
- An existing integrated cement plant willing to replace some of its CEM I / OPC production with LC3
- A grinding station willing to do the same using its imported clinker
- An investor willing to produce LC3 out of a green field grinding station project also with imported clinker
