Cement

• Global production of cement in 2000 was 1.56 billion tones. One third of this was produced in China alone. (Source: USGS Minerals Information. Cement Statistics 2000)
• In manufacturing 1.56 billion tonnes of portland cement each year worldwide, an equivalent amount of CO2 is released into the air.

Making one tonne of cement:

• requires about 2 tonnes of raw material (limestone and shale)
• consumes about 4 GJ of energy in electricity, process heat, and transport (the energy equivalent to 131 cubic metres of natural gas)
• produces approximately one tonne of CO2
• produces about 3 kg of NOX, an air contaminant that contributes to ground-level smog
• produces about 0.4 kg of PM10 - an airborne particulate matter that is harmful to the respiratory tract when inhaled
• The manufacturing of cement accounts for 5% of the non-energy related greenhouse gas emissions in Canada (Source: Canada's Second Report on Climate Change. Environment Canada, 1997)

Concrete

• Annual global production of concrete is about 5 billion cubic yards. (Source: Cement Association of Canada)
• Twice as much concrete is used in construction around the world than the total of all other building materials, including wood, steel, plastic and aluminum. (Source: Cement Association of Canada)

Supplementary Cementing Materials

• The annual production of fly ash in North America is 60 million tonnes. (Source: M. Malhotra "Making Concrete Greener with Fly Ash" May 1999, Concrete International)
• The annual production of fly ash in Canada in 1999 was 5.1 million tonnes; 85% of the fly ash produced ended up in landfills. (Source: NRCAN-CANMET)
• An estimated 600 million tonnes of fly ash was produced in the world in 2000.(Source: Concrete International May 1999 - M. Malhotra "Making Concrete Greener with Fly Ash")
• Lafarge Canada, a major Canadian concrete manufacturer, estimates 25% of the cement in the average concrete mix is replaced by fly ash in the Vancouver region.