The environmental impacts of activated clay produced using a wide range of clay mineralogy (with varying carbonate content), fuels (including alternative fuels), and thermal activation technologies were assessed using the life cycle assessment methodology. Global warming potential (GWP) values for thermally activated clays produced using the four different technologies and six fuel use scenarios ranged from 186 to 360 kg CO2-eq. per tonne of activated clay. Depending on the fuel type, thermally activated clay can have a non-biogenic GWP of 103-360 kg CO2 eq. per tonne, biogenic GWP of 29-94 kg CO2 eq. per tonne. Changing the fuel type can decrease GWP by up to 30% (both biogenic and non-biogenic) and 43% (only non-biogenic), whereas changing technology can decrease GWP by up to 28%. The variability in the GWP of LC3 containing 50%, 35%, and 25% Portland clinker was assessed, where activated clay contributed 6-14%, 9-22% and 14%-30% of the GWP, respectively.

The main goal of the paper is to compare the economic and environmental impacts of local production of low carbon cement based on a new mineral addition of calcined clay and limestone (LC2) versus industrial production of low carbon cement (LC3), considering particularities of Cuban context. First, a technical comparison is carried out comparing also with traditional OPC and PPC and considering standards applied in the island. Secondly, an economic assessment of production and investment costs is carried out using life cycle costing (LCC) technique. Afterwards, to assess environmental impacts a simplified life cycle assessment is performed to compare both cements, OPC and PPC. Cement based on LC2 reports economic advantages in comparison with the other cements: industrial LC3, OPC and PPC. Environmental results show a similar behaviour for local and industrial LC3 but a significant decrease of emissions and energy demand versus OPC and PPC. Technical comparison shows that local LC3 results are variable but complies with the standard for its use in mortars and non-structural applications. Finally, results show that LC3 introduction is a feasible option to reduce impacts of the cement industry in Cuba, and a combination of its local and industrial production is the best alternative to achieve sustainability goals in the short and mid-terms. Main opportunities of local LC3 are the reduction of costs, the easier storage, the use of local materials, amongst other. Main challenge is related to a correct use of the mineral addition in localities.

This paper aims at assessing the sustainability of replacing conventional OPC/PPC by Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) in Cuba. Authors conducted an eco-efficiency (E-E) analysis supported by E-E ratios, which in turn are rooted on the environmental assessment (Life Cycle Assessment, LCA) and the economic analysis (Economic Value Added, EVA). Taking case studies in Villa Clara province capital district, three construction methods were compared and further conclusions emerged with regard to economic and ecological criteria. A square meter of built area was employed as functional unit. According to main results, Grand panel technique appears to be the benchmarking method, followed by Forsa system and, finally, concrete block technique. LC3 blend outperforms OPC/PPC from both economic and environmental perspective. Furthermore, productive efficiency potentials were found on the field of material selection and raw material procurement. Authors provided decision-makers with some policy recommendations in order to contribute enhancing the sustainable use of LC3 in Cuban construction sector.

The search of sustainability is a need for human activities in general. Particularly, cement sector as a significant contributor to climate change has to implement strategies to reduce its environmental impacts. But, effective strategies have to be complemented by adequate methodological techniques to assess, guide and certificate sustainability. Amongst all the techniques developed by the scientific community in recent years, life cycle techniques highlight as one of the most used one due to its integrated and holistic philosophy. In Cuba, a new cement based on a combination of calcined clay and limestone to reduce clinker to 50% (Low Carbon Cement, LC3) is been developed as part of an international collaboration project. The main goal of this research is to assess sustainability of cement sector in Cuba using life cycle techniques such as: Life cycle assessment (environmental-LCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), Life Cycle Costing ( LCC), Economic Life Cycle Assessment (EcLCA). As part of the assessment LC3 is compared with traditional produced cements in Cuba OPC and PPC. Results show that LC3 introduction allows increasing sustainability in cement sector by reducing carbon emissions, energy consumption, costs and reporting positive effects on society.

Nowadays, the Cement Cuban Industry has installed a productive capacity of 2.8 MMt of clinker per year, for a use of the 40% of this productive capacity for different reasons. The reported production in 2014 was 1.8 MMt. The current demand of cement exceeds the production, indicating the necessity of new investments in the cement sector to increase the productive capacity and the production but this is impossible in short-term. The projection of this demand in the period 2015–2020 will imply an annual increase of 18% due to the new age of the economic reorganization we are currently facing in our country and the increase of constructive activity. Today, the LC3 production constitutes a viable alternative to reduce this problem. The Cuban Cement Industry has shown a huge interest on the development and implementation of LC3. With that purpose, it is necessary to work on the introduction of this cement in the Cuban standard.

The sustainability of the production of the Portland cement, among another factors, is directly related to the decrease of specific consumption of fuel and the decrease of the emissions of gases and contaminating particles. To decrease the clinker's factor, an important alternative is to improve the environmental efficiency. It is demonstrated in this work that with the addition of thermally activated clays, a substantial decrease of the consumption of energy and CO2 emissions occurs.

This work carries out the environmental evaluation of the cement production in Siguaney Factory as well as the calculation of the Eco-efficiency indicators according to the ISO 14045 norms; the Recipe methodology was used including 18 impact categories and the SimaPro 8.1 software was also used. In order to evaluate the eco-efficiency indicators according to the ISO 14045 norm, the results of the impact categories are related to the monetary value indicators, allowing the evaluation of the current situation as well as the consequences of the suggested modifications. As a result, the environmental profiles of P-35 cement (base case) were obtained as well as those of the low carbon ones (LC3-35 y LC3-50) resulting from the clinker substitution by kaolinitic clay after some studies carried out by CIDEM researchers; and the eco-efficiency profiles. The comparison made between P-35 cement and the low-carbon cements showed positive results in eight weather impact categories, however, toxicity-related ones rise due to the increase in electricity consumption connected to the grinding of materials to obtain burnt clay bringing about a greater amount of emissions of volatile organic compounds to the air. An improvement in the eco-efficiency of 6 out of 8 calculated indicators is observed due to a simultaneous decrease in the production costs and the environmental impacts. LC3-50 cement shows the best results. The methodology used permits to evaluate alternatives related to the material substitution in the construction sector.

En este trabajo se realiza la evaluacion ambiental de la produccion de cemento en la Fabrica Siguaney y el calculo de los indicadores de ecoeficiencia segun la norma ISO 14045, se utiliza la metodologia Recipe mediante el software SimaPro 8.1. Para evaluar los indicadores de ecoeficiencia se relacionan los resultados de las categorias de impacto con indicadores de valor monetario, que permiten evaluar la situacion actual y la repercusion de las modificaciones propuestas. Como resultados se obtienen los perfiles ambientales del cemento P-35 (caso base) y de los cementos de bajo carbono (LC3-35 y LC3-50), obtenidos de la sustitucion de clinker por las arcillas caoliniticas a partir de estudios realizados por investigadores del Centro de Investigacion y Desarrollo de Estructuras y Materiales (CIDEM), asi como los perfiles de ecoeficiencia. La comparacion del cemento P-35 con los de bajo carbono demostro resultados favorables en ocho categorias de impacto, sin embargo las relacionadas con la toxicidad aumentan debido al incremento del consumo de electricidad que se produce con la molienda de los materiales para la obtencion de las arcillas calcinadas, provocando mayor cantidad de emisiones al aire de compuestos organicos volatiles .Se observa que existe una mejora de la ecoeficiencia en 6 de los 8 indicadores, debido a una disminucion simultanea de los costos de produccion y los impactos ambientales. El cemento LC3-50 muestra los mejores resultados. La metodologia utilizada posibilita la evaluacion de alternativas relacionadas con la sustitucion de materiales en la construccion

The main goal of the paper is to carry out the first implementation of a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) in Cuba throughout a case of study related with the introduction of Low Carbon Cement in the country. First, an adapted model to assess economic, social and environmental impacts is developed according to cement sector conditions in the island. Secondly, the "adapted LCSA" is carried out comprising a life cycle assessment (LCA), an economic life cycle analysis (EcLCA) and a social-LCA (S-LCA). The environmental assessment includes impacts on climate change, particulate matter emission, fossil fuel depletion among others. The systems explored include all processes from cradle to industry 'gate'. The cements assessed were Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Blended Cement (PPC) and Low Carbon Cement (LC3). For the EcLCA and S-LCA, indicators adjusted to Cuban conditions are proposed and assessed, using midpoint and endpoint levels to match with LCA methodology. Economically, conventional Portland cement presents the highest costs per ton, followed by PPC and LC3. In the S-LCA, LC3 introduction reduces sensitive social impacts in relation with different stakeholders: workers, local community and society. Environmentally, main impact, at global scale, is climate change and, at local level, particulate matter emission. Integrating the results from LCA, SLCA and EcLCA shows a significant reduction on the climate and social impacts per cost when producing LC3. Finally, results show that LC3 introduction is the best option to meet sustainability goals of the cement industry in Cuba and LCSA can be considered a valuable tool to support decision-making processes oriented to sustainability.

This paper aims at assessing the return on investment and carbon mitigation potentials of five investment alternatives for the Cuban cement industry in a long-term horizon appraisal (15 years). Anticipated growing demand for cement, constrained supply and an urgent need for optimisation of limited capital while preserving the environment, are background facts leading to the present study. This research explores the beneficial contribution of a new available technology, LC3 cement, resulting from the combination of clinker, calcined clay and limestone, with a capacity of replacing up to 50% of clinker in cement. Global Warming Potential (GWP) is calculated with Life Cycle Assessment method and the economic investment's payback is assessed through Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) approach. Main outcomes show that projected demand could be satisfied either by adding new cement plants—at a high environmental impact and unprofitable performance— or by introducing LC3 strategy. The latter choice allows boosting both the return on investment and the production capacity while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions up to 20–23% compared to business-as-usual practice. Overall profitability for the industry is estimated to overcome BAU scenario by 8–10% points by 2025, if LC3 were adopted. Increasing the production of conventional blended cements instead brings only marginal economic benefits without supporting the needed increase in production capacity. The conducted study also shows that, in spite of the extra capital cost required for the calcination of kaolinite clay, LC3 drops production costs in the range of 15–25% compared to conventional solutions.

Concrete is the most manmade material solution produced and used worldwide. Its cornerstone is the cement composite due to the high emissions level and resources consumption volume. Roughly 5-7% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from cement manufacture process. The far-reaching alternative of replacing a clinker portion in the cement material composition has gained consensus. It becomes relevant in emerging economies since in the short term there are no widely available ways for increasing the production capacity while diminish the environmental impact with no additional investment cost. Low carbon cement (LC3) is leading the contemporary path towards facing environmental challenges and resource scarcity. This article aims to assess the theoretical consideration of replacing the Cuban traditional cements with LC3 according to housing case studies in Villa Clara province. On the basis of LCA background and the supply chain rationale, a procedure for discussing a sustainable contribution of LC3 is designed and applied. Hollow blocks and mortars have been included in the calculations as well as the manufacturing/transportation processes for the entire supply chain of one semidetached two storey row houses built in the core of a slum-like settlement at Condado Suburb-Santa Clara city. This approach demonstrates that the LC3 incorporation in the Cuban construction sector could afford considerable economic savings with the subsequent contribution in favour of the environment.

Cement is the most produced material around the world. Developing countries face a growth of population involving an increasing need of infrastructures. Due to this situation, the cement industry needs to find the best comprise between increasing the cement production and without increasing the negative environmental impact. A promising solution has been found in the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), these materials are used to replace clinker in cement because of their pozzolanic reactivity. In this paper, a method was developed to assess the details of the economic and environmental potential of the specific Limestone Calcined Clays Cement LC3 technology in the Cuban context. A comparison with traditional Portland cement and the current commercial blended cement with zeolite (PPC) sold in Cuba was made. The results provide evidenced based data for the development of a strategy to adopt the LC3 technology by the Cuban market. This assessment method can then be easily extended to markets in other developing countries.

Concrete is, after water, the most used material worldwide and its demand is projected to growth in the next 30 years. Among all concrete materials, cement presents the higher energy consumption and carbon emissions, that's why this industry has been developing several alternatives to gain sustainability. The reduction of the clinker ratio by using Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) allows a better use of existing capacities with low investment while a reduction in emissions, costs and energy per ton of cement is observed. The objective of this article is to assess the environmental and economic impact of a new cement with 50% of clinker: Low carbon cement (LC3). A procedure for evaluating sustainable and economic contributions of LC3, while projected demand is satisfied, is designed and applied in several scenarios. The results demonstrate that the introduction of LC3 is the best option to meet growing demand considering capital investment options in non-developed countries conditions with a reduction of similar to 30% in carbon emissions, of similar to 10% in costs and a faster return of investments related to OPC figures in Cuba.

This study combines two techniques for the assessment of sustainability in cement and concrete production: Life Cycle Analysis and Eco-efficiency. The first technique is used to assess the environmental impact of Low Carbon Cement (LC3) production from quarrying to the factory's gate. The LCA is developed in order to compare three Cuban cements and its associated impacts: OPC, PPC and LC3. For that purpose, an inventory is developed using official statistics of the cement sector, calculated productive and economic indexes and emission factors. Global warming and energy use, are the main identified impacts. The second method is employed for the calculation of the improvement potential derived from the substitution of OPC by LC3 in a model house built with LC3 in Santa Clara city. A considerable improvement of 54 percent in the eco-efficiency indicator has been achieved as a result of using blended cement that is a proper combination of clinker, metakaolin, gypsum and limestone. The results become a challenge for Cuban construction sector in order to generalize the technology as a sustainable product from the economic, social and environmental point of view.