Roadmap for Decarbonization of the Building and Construction Industry - A Supply Chain Analysis Including Primary Production of Steel and Cement
Journal article, 2020

Sweden has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero by 2045. Around 20% of Sweden's annual CO(2)emissions arise from manufacturing, transporting, and processing of construction materials for construction and refurbishment of buildings and infrastructure. In this study, material and energy flows for building and transport infrastructure construction is outlined, together with a roadmap detailing how the flows change depending on different technical and strategical choices. By matching short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions, these pathways make it possible to identify key decision points and potential synergies, competing goals, and lock-in effects. The results show that it is possible to reduce CO(2)emissions associated with construction of buildings and transport infrastructure by 50% to 2030 applying already available measures, and reach close to zero emissions by 2045, while indicating that strategic choices with respect to process technologies and energy carriers may have different implications on energy use and CO(2)emissions over time. The results also illustrate the importance of intensifying efforts to identify and manage both soft and hard barriers and the importance of simultaneously acting now by implementing available measures (e.g., material efficiency and material/fuel substitution measures), while actively planning for long-term measures (low-CO(2)steel or cement).

heavy industry

construction

building

supply chain

emissions reduction

carbon abatement

roadmap

decarbonization

CO(2)emissions

climate transition

Author

Ida Karlsson

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Energy Technology

Johan Rootzén

University of Gothenburg

Alla Toktarova

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Energy Technology

Mikael Odenberger

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Energy Technology

Filip Johnsson

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Energy Technology

Lisa Göransson

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Energy Technology

Energies

1996-1073 (ISSN) 19961073 (eISSN)

Vol. 13 16 4136

Subject Categories

Construction Management

Other Environmental Engineering

Energy Systems

DOI

10.3390/en13164136

More information

Latest update

10/23/2020