All data for 2023.
Total GHG Emissions (CO2eq): 3.4 billion tons.
Total Cement & Construction Industry Emissions:
- Total CO2 emissions: 235 million tons (CO2eq)
- Proportion of total: 7%
India produced about 380 million tons of cement in 2023. At an approximate emission rate of 0.62 t CO2/ ton of cement (based on the averaging of estimates from this source), that would be about 235 million tons of cement emitted in 2023. (To provide a global context, the global cement industry emissions were about 2.7 billion tons in 2023; this was equal to about 7.5% of total CO2 emissions, but only about 5% of all GHG emissions for that year – source).
Interestingly, only a portion of these large emissions from cement manufacturing are from energy use. A good portion of the cement industry emissions is from the calcination process in which calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is heated in a kiln to produce lime (CaO), the main component of cement. This chemical reaction releases CO2 as a byproduct. Such a process emission, accounts for around 60% of cement’s CO2 emissions! The balance of the CO2 emissions mainly comes from the combustion of fossil fuels to heat the kiln that releases CO2.
Hope this is useful.
If you have queries on this, please send a note to narsi@eai.in and I will try my best to help! – Narsi, EAI
Support data and other highlights
Cement manufacturing: 165 million tons CO2 in 2022, 5% of total https://www.statista.com/statistics/1198693/carbon-dioxide-emissions-cement-manufacturing-china/
CO2 emissions to double by 2030 (from 2022?) https://www.cseindia.org/decarbonizing-india-cement-sector-11867
Buildings in India account for 22% of its CO2 emissions https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/buildings-sector-will-exceed-country-s-entire-ghg-emissions-budget-124031800929_1.html
In the business-as-usual scenario, the cumulative emissions (direct and embodied) from buildings between 2020 and 2070 are projected to reach 90.85 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent, exceeding the carbon budget allocated for India by 2 per cent, https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/buildings-sector-will-exceed-country-s-entire-ghg-emissions-budget-124031800929_1.html
