Page 43 - 2021 Sustainability Report

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Our Investments in Reducing our Carbon Intensity

We have worked hard and invested heavily in our to differentiate the products. The above considerations are
sustainability practices and improved carbon intensity discussed in greater detail below in “Understanding
in our heritage cement manufacturing operations, Blending and the Impact of Fuel Choice”.
including employing and improving on patented
production processes, upgrading equipment, improving
fuel efficiency and increasing our use of lower-carbon “As a result of these efforts, we
alternative fuels, and reducing total air emissions. In fact, have successfully reduced the
since 2008, we have invested more than $1 billion to
upgrade kilns and equipment at both Texas cement plants, carbon intensity of our cement
including replacing “wet process” cement production with business to 0.77 net metric tonnes
modern pre-calciner technology and installing state-of-the- of CO e/metric tonnes of cement
art emissions control equipment at our Midlothian Cement 2
Plant. We believe our two heritage cement plants are now as of 2021 over the 2010 intensity
among the most modern in the United States.
of 0.836.”
Not surprisingly, in 2015, the Company’s Midlothian
Cement Plant was recognized by the USEPA as a high
performing, energy efficient facility following investments While our carbon intensity is reported in terms of CO 2 e
in innovative air pollution control technologies and usage emissions including emissions from biogenic sources, it is
of alternative fuels. notable that our net and gross emissions from our
operations would not materially differ if we excluded the
Understanding Carbon Intensity biogenic component. This is due to the fact that the use of
Calculations alternative fuels is significantly less incentivized in the U.S.
(where we operate) than in the European Union, including
As a result of these efforts, we have successfully that biogenic sources are only partially credited in
reduced the carbon intensity of our cement business calculating emissions required to be reported to the
to 0.77 net metric tonnes of CO e/metric tonnes of USEPA.
2
cement as of 2021 over the 2010 intensity of 0.836.
This also places us well below the U.S. cement industry
average intensity of 0.80 metric tonnes of CO e/metric
2
tonnes of cement (inclusive of biogenic GHG) in 2020 (the
most recent year for which data is available from the
USEPA) and makes us one of the more carbon efficient
cement producers in the United States. 2021 saw a slight
uptick in our intensity due to EPA rules which required us
to include the biogenic GHG previously excluded from our
calculations for the year as well as changes in our fuel mix.

We report our carbon intensity in terms of metric tonnes of
“cement” we produce (which is comprised of clinker and
certain blend materials) rather than “cementitious
material” typically used by EU cement companies.
Although our cement includes some blending with non-
clinker materials, like other U.S. operators, we are not
permitted to substitute clinker at the higher percentages
permitted in the EU. Therefore, we use the term “cement”

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