Cement production is responsible for roughly 5-8% of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to human activity. The enormous need for infrastructure, particularly in emerging countries such as India, China and Brazil, will cause global demand for cement to double by 2050. This means a massive increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
The SDC Global Programme Climate Change is supporting a number of initiatives, including the development of a new type of cement called LC3 (limestone calcined clay cement, see box). The amount of CO2 emitted in LC3 production is up to 30% lower than for ordinary Portland cement. The Global Programme Climate Change thus aims to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.
LC3 has been developed under an SDC-funded research partnership between the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the Universidad de las Villas in Cuba. Since 2012, Indian scientists from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Delhi, Bombay and Madras and staff of the NGO Development Alternatives have also been involved in scientific and practical research for the project. The project is led by EPFL.