Opportunities for waste recovery to improve the carbon footprint in the Spanish cement industry under a cap and trade system: Insights from a case study

摘要

Recently, the utilization of alternative fuels and raw materials in cement manufacturing has increased considerably due to their diverse benefits. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework to assess the use of waste in order to improve the carbon footprint in the cement industry under a cap and carbon trade system. An optimization model is proposed for the production planning of cement processes to achieve the maximum operational profit while reducing CO2 emissions to a given target through the use of waste recovery under a carbon trade system. The proposed model was developed and used with real scale data for two scenarios of CO2 emissions (period Kyoto versus post-Kyoto). Eight cases were analysed, resulting from the combination of different CO2 mitigation options. The results show that to obtain an efficient (economic and environmental) use of waste in cement production, it is necessary to introduce changes in the production mix. In all cases studied, the optimal production plan prioritizes the production of cements with a lower proportion of clinker. Moreover, although it depends on each case, the sensitivity analysis shows that the profit is more sensitive to changes in the volume of alternative fuel (tires) than to changes in the emission allowance amount. (C)2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.