How these 5 cement companies are mapping their sustainability journey

The manufacturing sector—known as the traditional villain in a sector’s sustainable journey is picking pace with its peers in purpose-driven transformation.

One of the segments leading the sustainability narrative is cement manufacturing. Most leading cement manufacturers are already on their way to meet the RE 100 and EP 100 targets.

As the world’s second-largest cement producer after China, let us look at how Indian cement manufacturers progress on their RE 100 EP 100 commitment.

India-headquartered JK Lakshmi Cement has joined its peers namely Ultratech Cement, JSW, and Dalmia Cement, Ambuja Cement, to pledge 100 percent renewable energy across operations.

JK Cement
It is the 10th Indian-headquartered company to join RE100 and the 11th to join EP100. The company has become the 4th cement firm globally to join the initiative

• The initiative aimed at making the production process carbon-free and creating a sustainable future
• Committed to meet 100% electricity demand through renewable sources, and doubling energy productivity by 2040
• Deployed LNG trucks to transport raw materials and recently signed an agreement with Amplus Solar to set up a 56 MWp solar power plant for its Durg facility

“We have always emphasized on reducing carbon footprint and operating in an energy-efficient manner to facilitate global actions to create a sustainable future. With this initiative to be a part of RE100 & EP100, we are just accelerating our actions towards our commitment to a safe environment and a sustainable future,” said Arun Shukla, President & Director, JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd.

UltraTech Cement Limited
It is the largest manufacturer of grey cement, white cement and ready-mix concrete in India, has announced its commitment to Climate Group’s RE100 initiative at Climate Week NYC 2021.

• Targets to meet 100 per cent of its electricity requirement through renewables sources by 2050
• Focuses its sustainability initiatives on decarbonization, circular economy, biodiversity management, water positivity, safe operations and community development.
• Has adopted Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and Internal Carbon Price and has set ambitious environmental targets through both EP100 and RE100.
• Scaled RE contracted capacity by 2.5 times
• Set a target to scale up green energy mix to 34 percent of total power commitment by 2024

“The commitment to move to 100 per cent renewable energy to meet our electrical energy requirements by 2050 is reflection of our confidence on the progress we have made, and our commitment to overcome the challenges ahead. With us now joining the RE100 group, UltraTech will become part of a high-profile global campaign that advocates for a strong business case in transitioning to renewable energy sources in building a decarbonized economy,” said Kailash Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement.

Dalmia Cement
Dalmia Cement committed to a SBT in August 2018 and become a carbon negative cement group by 2040. Dalmia was the first company globally to commit to the Climate Group’s RE100 campaign (100% renewable electricity use by 2030) and EP100 (doubling the energy productivity by 2030).

Priority is to replace the fossil-fuel based electricity through zero-carbon electricity generation technologies such as waste heat recovery (WHR) power generation systems
Has deployed a 9.2MW WHR system, generating electricity without fossil fuels.
About 7% of the electricity sourced by Dalmia Cement is based on renewable energy
At Dalmia Bharat Group level around 40% installed generation capacity is based on renewables
Three-pronged approach is to
To develop on-site fossil-free electricity generation facilities
Rooftop and ground-mounted solar energy plants and
Converting existing fossil-fuel-based captive power plants to re-generation by use of renewable biomass as a fuel

“Being one of the greenest cement companies in the world, we are committed to decarbonizing our operations. Our presence as the first cement company in RE100 and EP100 illustrates our commitment on this issue. We are scaling up our ambition to double our energy productivity and make a long-term transition to 100% renewable power, achieving a fourfold increase in the percentage of renewable energy in our electricity consumption by 2030,” said Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited

JSW Cement
Globally, JSW Cement is the only heavy industry to accept all three business campaigns of the Climate Group RE100, EV100, and EP100 to build a renewable future. The circular economy principle is an integral part of our business model.

• Committed to source 100% energy from Renewable energy sources, across all global operations by 2050
• Committed to deploying all electric vehicles for transportation by 2030
• Signed MOU with PRESPL to use agricultural waste as biomass energy in its cement-manufacturing operations
• Has mapped decarbonization roadmap contributing to its Net Zero commitment by 2050
• Signed the UN Energy Compact as per which JSW Cement have set a target of reaching 30% thermal substitution rate (TSR) by 2030
• Focused efforts towards to include increasing fuel substitution and enhancing green & clean energy portfolios
• Co-processed almost ~35000 T including ~9000 T of biomass waste to reach TSR of 7.1% vis-a-vis to 4.2% in 2020-21, representing an increase of 70%. This has led to not only reduction of their net CO2 emissions by ~40,000 T but also saved ~15000 T of coal.

“The circular economy principle is an integral part of our business model. Last year, we made a small beginning wherein nearly 5 percent of our fuel requirement was met through alternate fuels. Our collaboration with Punjab Renewable Energy Systems will help us strengthen our alternative fuel strategy with the introduction of biomass fuel in our operations. This will not only help us reduce our carbon emissions but enable us to help Indian farmers reap economic benefits from the agricultural waste while improving the ambient air quality,” said Parth Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Cement

Ambuja Cements
Developed 2030 carbon emission reduction targets, validated by Science Based Target Initiatives (SBTi)
Partnered with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to implement a decarbonisation roadmap
Investing in clean energy efforts like:
Waste heat recovery system to reduce clinker factor
Energy efficiency (thermal & electrical)
Use of renewable energy from waste resources/alternative fuels, rainwater harvesting, and
Optimising fuel composition