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Impacts of booming concrete production on water resources worldwide

Author

Listed:
  • Sabbie A. Miller

    (University of California, Davis)

  • Arpad Horvath

    (University of California, Berkeley)

  • Paulo J. M. Monteiro

    (University of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

Concrete is the most-used construction material worldwide. Previous studies on the environmental impacts of concrete production have mainly focused on the materials involved and energy consumption, as well as CO2 emissions; little is known, however, about its water consumption as well as the effective measures to reduce such consumption. We quantify water use of global concrete production in 2012 and project the value to 2050. The results show that concrete production was responsible for 9% of global industrial water withdrawals in 2012 (this is approximately 1.7% of total global water withdrawal). In 2050, 75% of the water demand for concrete production will likely occur in regions that are expected to experience water stress. Among possible ways of mitigating water demand are choosing the appropriate selection of electricity fuel mixes and improved processing of raw materials; however, these strategies may conflict with greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. This work develops a baseline estimate for water consumption and withdrawal for concrete production and identifies locations for targeted mitigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabbie A. Miller & Arpad Horvath & Paulo J. M. Monteiro, 2018. "Impacts of booming concrete production on water resources worldwide," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 69-76, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:1:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41893-017-0009-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-017-0009-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Emmanuel Hache & Marine Simoën & Gondia Sokhna Seck & Clément Bonnet & Aymen Jabberi, 2020. "The impact of future power generation on cement demand: An international and regional assessment based on climate scenarios," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 163, pages 114-133.
    2. Otavio Cavalett & Marcos D. B. Watanabe & Mari Voldsund & Simon Roussanaly & Francesco Cherubini, 2024. "Paving the way for sustainable decarbonization of the European cement industry," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 7(5), pages 568-580, May.
    3. Kristina Henzler & Stephanie D. Maier & Michael Jäger & Rafael Horn, 2020. "SDG-Based Sustainability Assessment Methodology for Innovations in the Field of Urban Surfaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-32, June.
    4. Nehdi, Moncef L. & Marani, Afshin & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "Is net-zero feasible: Systematic review of cement and concrete decarbonization technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    5. André Stephan & Robert H. Crawford & Victor Bunster & Georgia Warren‐Myers & Sareh Moosavi, 2022. "Towards a multiscale framework for modeling and improving the life cycle environmental performance of built stocks," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1195-1217, August.
    6. Takuma Watari & Zhi Cao & Sho Hata & Keisuke Nansai, 2022. "Efficient use of cement and concrete to reduce reliance on supply-side technologies for net-zero emissions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Ren, Ming & Ma, Teng & Fang, Chen & Liu, Xiaorui & Guo, Chaoyi & Zhang, Silu & Zhou, Ziqiao & Zhu, Yanlei & Dai, Hancheng & Huang, Chen, 2023. "Negative emission technology is key to decarbonizing China's cement industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    8. Yongxiang Cui & Jiafei Jiang & Tengfei Fu & Sifeng Liu, 2022. "Feasibility of using Waste Brine/Seawater and Sea Sand for the Production of Concrete: An Experimental Investigation from Mechanical Properties and Durability Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Francesco Pomponi & Bernardino D’Amico, 2020. "Low Energy Architecture and Low Carbon Cities: Exploring Links, Scales, and Environmental Impacts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-6, November.
    10. Heba Marey & Gábor Kozma & György Szabó, 2022. "Effects of Using Green Concrete Materials on the CO 2 Emissions of the Residential Building Sector in Egypt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, March.
    11. Izhar Hussain Shah & Sabbie A. Miller & Daqian Jiang & Rupert J. Myers, 2022. "Cement substitution with secondary materials can reduce annual global CO2 emissions by up to 1.3 gigatons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Rissman, Jeffrey & Bataille, Chris & Masanet, Eric & Aden, Nate & Morrow, William R. & Zhou, Nan & Elliott, Neal & Dell, Rebecca & Heeren, Niko & Huckestein, Brigitta & Cresko, Joe & Miller, Sabbie A., 2020. "Technologies and policies to decarbonize global industry: Review and assessment of mitigation drivers through 2070," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    13. Sylvia E. Kelechi & Musa Adamu & Abubakar Mohammed & Ifeyinwa I. Obianyo & Yasser E. Ibrahim & Hani Alanazi, 2021. "Equivalent CO 2 Emission and Cost Analysis of Green Self-Compacting Rubberized Concrete," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.

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