"Chloride Standards Must Change for Carbon Neutrality in Cement Industry"

'Public Hearing on Improving Chloride Standards for Cement and Concrete'

To raise the fuel substitution rate of the domestic cement industry to the level of the European Union (EU), it was suggested that the national standard (KS) for chloride content in cement products needs to be revised.

On the 5th, the "Public Hearing on the Improvement of Chloride Standards for Cement and Concrete," hosted by the Cement-Concrete Green New Deal Committee of the Korean Concrete Society, was held in the conference room of the Korea Science and Technology Center. [Photo by Korea Cement Association]

According to the Korea Cement Association on the 6th, the Cement-Concrete Green New Deal Committee of the Korean Concrete Institute held a "Public Hearing on the Improvement of Chloride Standards for Cement and Concrete" at the Korea Science and Technology Center meeting room the previous day. About 150 participants from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology, Korea Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry Cooperative Federation, related academia, and cement and concrete industry stakeholders attended the event.

The public hearing consisted of presentations on the research results of the "Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Support Project," a project funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and conducted by the Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology, followed by discussions among experts.

The research presentations included "Heat Source Substitution and Current Status of Cement Chloride for Carbon Neutrality in the Cement Industry" (Dr. Song Hoon, Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology), "Domestic Cement Industry Trends and Analysis of Chloride Content Status" (Dr. Yoon Sung-il, Korea Cement New Materials Research Association), "Research on Domestic Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry Trends and Chloride Content Status" (Dr. Kim Young-yeop, Korea Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry Cooperative Federation), and "Study on Improvement of Cement and Concrete Chloride Standards" (Professor Kwon Sung-jun, Korean Concrete Institute).

The discussion was chaired by Professor Kim Jin-man of Kongju National University, co-chair of the Cement-Concrete Green New Deal Committee. Participants including Professor Kim Sang-cheol of Hanseo University, Kim Ui-cheol, head of the Korea Cement Association, Park Min-yong, executive director of Sampyo Industry, Jung Sang-hwa, head of the Korea Construction Living Environment Testing Institute, and Jung Hyun-woo, officer of the National Institute of Technology and Standards, shared their opinions on improving the chloride standards for cement and concrete.

Kim Ui-cheol, head of the Korea Cement Association, stated during the discussion, "To achieve the 2030 National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target (NDC), it is essential to significantly expand the substitution of bituminous coal fuel, a core greenhouse gas reduction technology in the domestic cement industry. Like advanced emission trading countries such as the EU, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, the concrete chloride regulations should be promptly revised to a quantitative system to timely induce new facility investments by companies."

A representative of the Korea Cement Association explained, "In countries like the EU and the United States, as part of their carbon neutrality policies, the input of carbon-free alternative fuels in domestic cement production is being significantly increased to reduce fossil fuel usage. The EU replaces more than 50% of bituminous coal with solid refuse-derived fuel (RDF), including combustible synthetic resins, and Germany, an advanced emission trading country, substitutes up to about 70%."

They added, "However, combustible synthetic resins contain somewhat higher chloride content compared to fossil fuels, so if the domestic cement industry raises the fuel substitution rate to the EU level in the future, the chloride content in cement products is expected to increase."

The Green New Deal Committee plans to gather common opinions from the cement and ready-mixed concrete industries and promote the establishment and revision of KS standards related to chloride in cement and concrete in the future.