Life Cycle Cost and Environmental Impacts of Portland Limestone Cement and Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cement as Alternative Binders in Concrete

Use of portland limestone cement (PLC) instead of ordinary portland cement (OPC) Type I/II in conventional concrete pavement and calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement instead of OPC Type III in rapid strength concrete (RSC) are commonly proposed strategies that could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the Caltrans highway network and meet the state’s climate change mitigation goals. This study aims to quantify the potential global warming abatement cost of PLC and CSA cement use in California at the project and network level using life cycle cost analysis and life cycle assessment and to determine the benefits and disbenefits of the two proposed cement types. Results from the analysis showed that the abatement cost for replacing PLC with OPC Type I/II is $180/tonne of CO2-eq reduction, while the cost for replacing OPC Type III cement with CSA in RSC is $1,422/tonne of CO2-eq reduction.