EU Environmental Law - Carbon Emissions and Sustainable cement & Essay

EU Environmental Law - Carbon Emissions and Sustainable cement & concrete - Essay Example Accordingly, some 70 percent of EU-27’s cement kilns were commissioned. Today, EU27 has about 270 cement plants and 380 kilns. Their production capacities vary from between 200 to several thousands of metric tons per day. Dry process kilns supply about 90 percent of the cement production in Europe, while the remaining is manufactured in semi-wet and semi-dry kilns. According to Rootzà ©n (2012), over the last decade, the yearly production of cement has remained between 230 and 270 metric tons. Rootzà ©n (2012) however argues that this was except for 2009 when the industry was affected by the economic depression in Europe, dropping by over 20 percent in the fiscal year 2007/2009. In addition, internal cement trade by the EU countries have relatively been limited, even as concerns have been raised on competition from countries with little carbon emission control measures and policies such as those in North Africa. Most EU cement producing countries operate on a global level and regard the United States as their major trading partner. Other top destinations include Thailand, China and Philippines. Dependent on the demand of the building materials such as cement, the industry is a major source of direct employment in the manufacturing processes and in the building and construction sector. This means that environmental concerns are important in the cement sector. Studies indicate that output in this industry has dramatically risen in the last decade by over 23 percent. For instance, the total metric tons of cement produced in the EU were over 267.1 million in 2006, with a value of about â‚ ¬ 19 billion. The output rose to 272 million tons the following year, representing nearly 0.5 percent of total value added, and about 0.25 percent of employment in the industry. It is thus perceivable that cement demand is cyclical and majorly depends on the building requirements. It is also worth noting th at employment has been on the