Research Seminar on Cement Production

As a key component to concrete, the most widely used building material on earth, cement is a major contributor to climate change. The production of cement alone is responsible for 8% of global CO2-emissions. As the Guardian puts is: if the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world with up to 2.8bn tons, surpassed only by China and the US. Half of these emissions occur in the production of clinkers, an extremely energy intensive process, taking place in a highly automated installation, centered around a rotary kiln that can measure more than 100 m. These kilns are built on locations that allow for the cheap supply of both the fuel and the ingredients (mostly limestone and clay), usually right next to a limestone quarry.

In this special topic, we asked to take a closer look on these installations in Belgium. Not only in the present day, but also in the past. Where has cement production taken place in Belgium, and why? What was the nature of the installations, and how did these evolve? Can we put precise numbers on their current emissions and other impacts?

Our investigation will necessarily rely on both the (history of) technology and on the geology of Belgium to better understand these plants. Yet, eventually, our perspective will be that of the environmental historian / the ecologist, mapping the impact of these installations on the level of the territory, trying to understand how the production of cement, by supplying the source material for the urbanization of the country, has also shaped its own production landscape. We will draw inspiration from recent studies on landscapes of extraction for architectural production Other tracks of investigations included: theoretical reflections around the rotary kiln as the epitome of a megamachine; ownership structure; questions of how did the logics of war influence cement production (cf. the thanatocene hypothesis).

This investigation, thought of as teamwork, embraced a variety of sources: existing literature and archive material, complemented with interviews and site visits. The focus was put on the production of public-informing deliverables in the form of WIKI-pages that offer a better insight in the tremendous environmental impact of cement production. A deep understanding of the processes and strategies deployed by the cement sector, throughout history, to manipulate perception and embellish its reputation helped students to make the difference between greenwashing and sincere ambitions in the contemporary rhetoric about, for instance, carbon capture and low carbon cement.