In October 2024, the 2024 Geopolymer Low-Carbon Materials Green Innovation Conference was held in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Industry experts and enterprise representatives gathered to discuss the technological innovation and industrial application paths of geopolymer low-carbon materials. The convening of this conference signifies that, driven by the "dual-carbon" strategy, new low-carbon cementitious materials, represented by geopolymers, have become a key breakthrough for the building materials industry to achieve deep carbon reduction and transformation and upgrading.
According to experts from the Building Materials Industry Technology Information Institute, traditional cement production processes generate large carbon emissions, accounting for 5-7% of global emissions, and even reaching 12-15% in my country. Furthermore, carbon neutrality is difficult to achieve due to the characteristics of the process. In contrast, the carbon emissions from the production process of geopolymer low-carbon materials are only 24% of those of ordinary silicate cement, and energy consumption is only about 30%. If the activity of solid waste is improved, energy consumption can be reduced to 10% of cement production, and carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 72.5% per ton of concrete, demonstrating significant emission reduction advantages. Meanwhile, this material uses industrial solid waste such as slag and fly ash as its main raw materials, not only solving the problem of solid waste resource utilization, but also producing products with excellent properties such as high strength, fire resistance, and corrosion resistance. It has been widely used in various fields such as wall materials, road and bridge repair, and radioactive waste solidification.
At the policy level, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other ministries have successively issued documents such as the "Implementation Plan for Carbon Peaking in the Building Materials Industry" and the "Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Green Building Materials Industry," explicitly supporting the development of new low-carbon cementitious materials. Currently, my country's million-ton-level geopolymer production line has been built and put into operation, and the national key research and development project on low-carbon cement also lists aluminosilicate cement as a key research area. All-solid-waste cementitious materials have been included in the future development direction of the industry. Industry insiders predict that with the in-depth promotion of green building concepts, the market demand for geopolymer low-carbon materials will continue to expand, promoting the coordinated and sustainable development of resources, energy, and the environment in the building materials industry.
