A unified approach to quantifying the key greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutant emissions, and water demand in concrete production

The objective of this study is to develop a cohesive, unified dataset of life cycle inventories needed to quantify the effects of material, energy, waste, and emission flows on the environmental impacts of concrete. In this work, a set of environmental impact assessment models that capture specific materials and technologies used in the production of cement and concrete in California is developed. The models developed will consider greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollutant emissions (namely, NO_X, SO_X, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, VOCs, and CO), and water demands (both water consumption and water withdrawals) for the key components of cement and concrete production in California. The structure of the data will allow for the tailoring of inputs to capture variations in different regions around the world, allowing for the assessment of imported constituents.