Into the Kiln: CEMEX and Alternative Fuels

“Into the Kiln” is our interactive new game that teaches you about the benefits of Alternative Fuels in the cement industry. Burn alternative fuels to generate the heat needed to produce cement, but make sure temperature in the kiln does not get too high! Keep an eye out on the carbon emissions you avoided through this ecological alternative to traditional fossil fuels. 

The cities of the future will need to be mimic ecosystems where waste for one entity delivers value for another. One key effort is the use of solid wastes to fuel our cement facilities. These wastes that contain recoverable energy are predominantly residues or byproducts from industrial, domestic, agricultural, and forestry processes, including:

• Used tires
• Spent solvents and waste oils
• Processes municipal solid waste
• Household wastes
• Agricultural wastes such as rice, peanut shells and coffee husks
• Sewage sludge

The process reduces our reliance on fossil fuels while also alleviating the burden on municipal landfills to accommodate these solid wastes.

In 2012, CEMEX consolidated its leadership in the use of lower carbon alternative fuels, reaching an alternative fuels substitution rate of 27.1 percent, one of the highest rates among its global peers. Overall, the company’s alternative fuel strategy enabled it to avoid the use of 2.3 million tons of coal and the emission of 1.8 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.