India has the second largest cement manufacturing capacity in the world, with installed cement capacity of about 670 million tons. Indian cement industry responsible for 7-8% of the national emissions. Cement is one of the 8 core industrial sectors of the country, it is energy and emissions intensive, and hard to abate. With increasing demand for cement in the country, BAU will lead to increased use of natural resources (fuels, raw materials, etc.) and higher GHG emissions.
Cement is a hard-to-abate sector, due to the nature/origins of its emissions. However, there are areas in the cement sector that could contribute to emissions reduction, with logistics, specifically, transport of raw materials and cement, being one of them. Most of the cement groups in the country are utilizing internal combustion engine (ICE) trucks for both transportation of raw materials and finished goods. Among various contributors to emissions, road transport stands out significantly in India's energy-related CO2 emissions. With the International Energy Agency (IEA) projecting a quadrupling of freight activity by trucks between 2021 and 2050, heavy freight trucking poses a considerable challenge as a "hard-to-abate" sector. Cement groups are looking at ways to accelerate the sustainability goal of lowering carbon emissions as well as optimize the company’s overall logistics cost.
The significant reliance on ICE trucks for the transportation of cement, clinker and other raw materials in India, where road transport accounts for 74-76% of all movement across an average distance of 300 km, contributes to a substantial environmental impact. Given the data on the extensive use of ICE trucks in the cement sector, the estimated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through road transport amount to approximately 2.3 Million tons per annum (for cement and clinker transport). This figure underscores the critical need for the cement industry and associated logistics sectors to consider more sustainable transportation methods, such as electric trucks (E-trucks), which could drastically reduce these emissions, align with global environmental goals, and help India move closer to its net-zero ambitions. Transitioning to E-trucks not only supports environmental sustainability but also aligns with broader global trends towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change effects.
CII-GBC, in partnership with International Sustainable Energy Foundation, is working on an initiative to facilitate electrification of trucks for cement sector. The initiative aims to reduce bottlenecks and adopt necessary interventions in logistics of cement sector through shift from ICE to E-trucks. This will bring significant changes in adoption of EVs and facilitate reduced emissions, improved air quality, and reduced dependence on fossil fuels; it also contributes to reduced total cost of transportation.
