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The Carbon Footprint of Ceramic Products

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Assessment of Carbon Footprint in Different Industrial Sectors, Volume 1

Part of the book series: EcoProduction ((ECOPROD))

Abstract

Nowadays it is generally recognized that human activities increase anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to dangerous thresholds, leading to climate change due to an increase in global temperatures. In an industrial context, the product carbon footprint concept has been emerging as a relevant tool to support the development and implementation of GHG management strategies throughout product life cycles, in order to reduce GHG emissions along the supply chain, improve energy efficiency, and improve product competitiveness in different markets. This chapter focuses on the carbon footprint of ceramic products and has the following purposes: (1) to present general information on ceramic manufacturing, in particular a characterization of the European ceramic industry with regard to energy sources and production value, and a description of the general ceramic manufacturing process; (2) to carry out case studies in which the carbon footprint of different ceramic products (ornamental earthenware piece, brick, roof tile, wall and floor tile, sanitary ware) is quantified; (3) to identify improvement measures and best available techniques (BAT) to reduce the total carbon footprint of some products; (4) to analyze the specific GHG emission of each of the ceramic products studied, considering a cradle-to-gate approach; and (5) to present some methodological challenges related to carbon footprint quantification.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Paula Quinteiro, Ana Cláudia Dias & Luís Arroja

  2. Centro Tecnológico da Ceramica e do Vidro (CTCV), 3020-053, Coimbra, Portugal

    Marisa Almeida

  3. Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Marisa Almeida

  4. Centro Lusíada de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial (CLEGI), Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão, 4760-108, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal

    António Araújo

Authors
  1. Paula Quinteiro
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  2. Marisa Almeida
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  3. Ana Cláudia Dias
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  4. António Araújo
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  5. Luís Arroja
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paula Quinteiro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eco-design Consultant, Global Sustainability Services SGS Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

    Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

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Quinteiro, P., Almeida, M., Dias, A.C., Araújo, A., Arroja, L. (2014). The Carbon Footprint of Ceramic Products. In: Muthu, S. (eds) Assessment of Carbon Footprint in Different Industrial Sectors, Volume 1. EcoProduction. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-41-2_5

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