New Delhi: Producing cement from carbon-free, calcium-rich silicate rocks such as basalt, instead of the currently used raw material limestone, which is also calcium-rich but releases carbon, could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the cement production industry by more than 80 per cent, a study has found.
Researchers, including those from the University of California, Santa Barbara in the US, said that the switch in raw materials can be made using existing technologies and that theoretically, 60 per cent lesser energy could be required to produce cement from basalt rocks, compared to limestone.
