research

Currently, the annual global cement production is estimated to be 3.3 billion tons. Even though the CO₂ emissions associated with the final product, concrete, are low, the massive scale of production, means that the cement industry accounts for 5-8 % of the global annual anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. One of the most effective ways to improve sustainability is the blending of Portland cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). However many local sources are fully exploited and a decline in production of blastfurnace slags and fly ash is expected due to future developments in steel and electricity production. Therefore locally available alternatives to these traditional SCMs need to be found to achieve higher cement replacement levels and a more sustainable cement industry.

Unravelling the impact of this expanding and diversified group of SCMs on the hydration reactions and performance of cement constitutes a major scientific challenge. The diversity of SCMs calls for novel generic approaches that will enable direct prediction and control of performance; compared to the current practice of case-by-case empirical testing.