Most emissions from concrete originate from cement production. The traditional strategy of minimizing the CO2 footprint has privileged the degree of clinker replacement. At the present time, it is estimated that the cement industry utilizes all of the blast furnace slag generated in the country and nearly all quality fly ash. Consequently, if there is an increase in the demand for cement, there is an increase in clinker production, and the rate of additions to the clinker decreases, respecting the extensive limits permitted by technical standards. In this scenario, the selection of blast furnace slag cement and fly ash cement does not offer environmental benefits to the country as a whole and does not demonstrate a global impact, despite the possibility of benefiting specific construction sites.Other factors besides the choice of cement can influence the total emissions, such as the efficiency of the concrete mix formulation, and the variability of the production process. The goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of different variables on the CO2 footprint of concrete, providing grounds for the concrete supply chain to minimizeits environmental impact.
CO2 emissions; Clinker replacement; Variability of the production efficiency of concrete mix formulation
