ANNOUNCEMENTS
Escalating global climate commitments—anchored by the Paris-aligned 1.5 °C guard-rail and India’s Panchamrit net-zero pledge—have moved hard-to-abate sectors such as cement from the fringe of climate policy to its epicentre. This dissertation quantifies, for the first time, the asset-level greenhousegas (GHG) footprint of a 4 500 t day⁻¹ clinker line operated by Meghalaya Cement Ltd. (MCL) in the limestone-rich East Jaintia Hills, and charts a science-based route to net-zero by 2050. Three objectives frame the study: (i) develop an ISO 14064-1 and Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) CO₂ & Energy Protocol inventory that captures all Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions plus key upstream Scope 3 flows; (ii) rank abatement levers with a marginal-abatement-cost (MAC) curve calibrated to India-specific emission factors and market prices; and (iii) embed those levers in a 25-year carbon-budget trajectory consistent with a 1.5 °C pathway.
Primary activity data—kiln and captive-power coal, grid electricity, 9.5 MW waste-heat-recovery (WHRS) output, diesel for mining and dispatch, and carbon sequestration from a 148 000-tree greenbelt—were compiled into the CSI Version 3 spreadsheet. Net FY 2024 emissions equal 845 220 t CO₂-e (0.568 t CO₂ t⁻¹ clinker) after deducting WHRS (-61 697 t) and afforestation (-3 710 t). Applying linear-descent logic widely used in financial stress-tests, the plant is allocated a 10.57 Mt carbon budget for 2025-2050, with milestone cuts of 20 %, 40 %, 60 % and 80 % set for 2030, 2035, 2040 and 2045. The resulting roadmap—negative-cost efficiency first, mid-cost fuel and clinker substitution next, high-cost CCUS last—keeps MCL below the GCCA 1.5 °C intensity benchmark and offers a live testbed for India’s proposed Cement PAT-II scheme and National CCUS Mission.
Managerially, the study delivers a KPI hierarchy—specific CO₂, budget draw-down, and MAC-ranked CAPEX—that mirrors the dashboards now demanded by lenders and ESG indices; policy-wise, it shows how plant-level transparency can lock industrial finance and national climate goals into a single, traceable loop.
Keywords: Cement decarbonisation; Carbon budget; ISO 14064; Marginal-abatement cost; Net-zero pathway
