Energy Efficiency Improvement and Benchmarking in the Cement Industry in the Middle East

The cement industry accounts for approximately 5 percent of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions worldwide. World cement demand and production are increasing. The largest share of this growth will take place in India, Middle East and Africa. This significant increase in cement production is associated with a significant increase in the cement industry’s absolute energy use and CO2 emissions. There is a significant potential to save energy by implementing commercially available energy-efficiency technologies and measures in the cement industry.

Global Efficiency Intelligence, LLC completed a project for UNIDO to improve energy efficiency in the cement industry in the Middle East. Countries such as Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia are among the top 15 cement producing countries in the world. In this project, we worked with local country partners and international partners such as United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to conduct energy intensity benchmarking for a sample of cement plants. In addition, we analyzed energy saving potential by implementation of series of commercialized energy efficiency technologies and conduct scenario projections of energy use in the cement industry up to 2050.