A maior parte das emissões de CO2 do concreto origina-se na produção do cimento. A estratégia tradicional de minimização da pegada de CO2 tem privilegiado o grau de substituição do clínquer. O trabalho examina o impacto dessa estratégia e também a influência da escolha do fornecedor de cimento sob a ótica de sua matriz energética, a variação do consumo de cimento para concretos de mesma resistência e do desvio padrão do processo produtivo de acordo com o controle do processo de produção do concreto. O método de trabalho inclui dados de revisão bibliográfica, normalização técnica e dados de central de concreto. A estratégia tradicional de escolha do tipo de cimento baseando-se em seu teor de clínquer mostra-se incompleta, pois há uma grande variação e sobreposição dos teores de clínquer permitidos nas normas técnicas brasileiras. No momento atual estima-se que a indústria cimenteira nacional utilize praticamente toda a escória de alto forno gerada no país e a quase totalidade das cinzas de melhor qualidade. Dessa forma, aumentando a demanda de cimento, a produção de clínquer aumenta, e o teor de adições no clínquer diminui dentro das extensas faixas permitidas pelas normas técnicas. Nesse cenário, a seleção de um tipo de cimento em detrimento de outro pode reduzir o impacto de uma obra específica, embora não traga necessariamente benefícios ambientais para o país. A troca da matriz energética por carvão vegetal de madeira de florestas plantadas pode minimizar a parcela de emissões provenientes de combustíveis do cimento, diminuindo a emissão de 350 kg para 10 kg de CO2 por tonelada de clínquer produzida. A eficiência do processo de formulação do concreto apresenta grande potencial para diminuir a quantidade de cimento utilizada no concreto, diminuindo, assim, as emissões totais de CO2 do concreto. Os dados levantados apontam uma variação de consumo de cimento de mais de 100% para concretos de mesma resistência. A influência do desvio padrão das condições de produção apresenta potencial menor para a diminuição das emissões, diminuindo no máximo 13% o consumo de cimento no concreto. A combinação das quatro estratégias estudadas demonstra a complexidade da emissão do concreto e o grande potencial para mitigar suas emissões de CO2. A necessidade de informações específicas sobre a emissão dos cimentos, seu teor de clínquer e sua matriz energética, uma técnica de dosagem otimizada e um controle das condições de produção do concreto demonstram que há, tanto para fornecedores de matérias primas do concreto quanto para os usuários e produtores do concreto, muito a ser feito para minimizar as emissões deste material tão consumido. / Most of concretes CO2 emissions originate from cement production. The traditional strategy for minimizing the CO2 footprint of concrete has favored the degree of clinker replacement. This paper examines the impact of this strategy and also the influence of the choice of the cement supplier based on the fuel composition in cement production, the variation of cement usage in concretes of the same strength and the standard deviation of the production process of concrete based on the control of its production process. The method of work uses data from literature, technical standards and data from a concrete central. The traditional strategy of the choice of cement type based on its clinker content is insufficient due to the extensive and overlapping clinker content range of different cement types allowed in Brazilian technical standards. At the present time, it is estimated that the cement industry utilizes all of the blast furnace slag generated in the country and nearly all quality fly ash. Consequently, if there is an increase in the demand for cement, there is an increase in clinker production, and the rate of additions to the clinker decreases, respecting the extensive limits permitted by technical standards. In this scenario, the selection of blast furnace slag cement and fly ash cement does not necessarily offer environmental benefits to the country as a whole and does not demonstrate a global impact, despite the possibility of benefiting specific construction sites. The substitution of the fuel mix for coal from planted forest wood can lower the portion of cement emissions due to fuel burning from 350 kg to 10 kg of CO2 per tonne of clinker produced. The efficiency of the concrete mix formulation shows great potential to lower the amount of cement usage in concrete, thus lowering the total CO2 emissions of concrete. The data presented point to a variation of more than 100% of cement content in concretes of the same strength. The influence of the standard deviation of the production process shows smaller impact on lowering concrete CO2 emissions shows that there is a maximum potential of 13% of lowering cement content in concrete. The combination of the four strategies studied demonstrates the complexity of concretes emissions and the great potential for mitigating its CO2 emissions. The need for information on cements specific emissions, its clinker content and fuel mix, the concrete mix formulation and the variability of the production process of concrete show that there is, for concrete raw material suppliers as well as concrete producers and users, a lot to be done to minimize the emissions of this widely consumed material.

A maior parte das emissões de CO2 do concreto origina-se na produção do cimento. A estratégia tradicional de minimização da pegada de CO2 tem privilegiado o grau de substituição do clínquer. O trabalho examina o impacto dessa estratégia e também a influência da escolha do fornecedor de cimento sob a ótica de sua matriz energética, a variação do consumo de cimento para concretos de mesma resistência e do desvio padrão do processo produtivo de acordo com o controle do processo de produção do concreto. O método de trabalho inclui dados de revisão bibliográfica, normalização técnica e dados de central de concreto. A estratégia tradicional de escolha do tipo de cimento baseando-se em seu teor de clínquer mostra-se incompleta, pois há uma grande variação e sobreposição dos teores de clínquer permitidos nas normas técnicas brasileiras. No momento atual estima-se que a indústria cimenteira nacional utilize praticamente toda a escória de alto forno gerada no país e a quase totalidade das cinzas de melhor qualidade. Dessa forma, aumentando a demanda de cimento, a produção de clínquer aumenta, e o teor de adições no clínquer diminui dentro das extensas faixas permitidas pelas normas técnicas. Nesse cenário, a seleção de um tipo de cimento em detrimento de outro pode reduzir o impacto de uma obra específica, embora não traga necessariamente benefícios ambientais para o país. A troca da matriz energética por carvão vegetal de madeira de florestas plantadas pode minimizar a parcela de emissões provenientes de combustíveis do cimento, diminuindo a emissão de 350 kg para 10 kg de CO2 por tonelada de clínquer produzida. A eficiência do processo de formulação do concreto apresenta grande potencial para diminuir a quantidade de cimento utilizada no concreto, diminuindo, assim, as emissões totais de CO2 do concreto. Os dados levantados apontam uma variação de consumo de cimento de mais de 100% para concretos de mesma resistência. A influência do desvio padrão das condições de produção apresenta potencial menor para a diminuição das emissões, diminuindo no máximo 13% o consumo de cimento no concreto. A combinação das quatro estratégias estudadas demonstra a complexidade da emissão do concreto e o grande potencial para mitigar suas emissões de CO2. A necessidade de informações específicas sobre a emissão dos cimentos, seu teor de clínquer e sua matriz energética, uma técnica de dosagem otimizada e um controle das condições de produção do concreto demonstram que há, tanto para fornecedores de matérias primas do concreto quanto para os usuários e produtores do concreto, muito a ser feito para minimizar as emissões deste material tão consumido. / Most of concretes CO2 emissions originate from cement production. The traditional strategy for minimizing the CO2 footprint of concrete has favored the degree of clinker replacement. This paper examines the impact of this strategy and also the influence of the choice of the cement supplier based on the fuel composition in cement production, the variation of cement usage in concretes of the same strength and the standard deviation of the production process of concrete based on the control of its production process. The method of work uses data from literature, technical standards and data from a concrete central. The traditional strategy of the choice of cement type based on its clinker content is insufficient due to the extensive and overlapping clinker content range of different cement types allowed in Brazilian technical standards. At the present time, it is estimated that the cement industry utilizes all of the blast furnace slag generated in the country and nearly all quality fly ash. Consequently, if there is an increase in the demand for cement, there is an increase in clinker production, and the rate of additions to the clinker decreases, respecting the extensive limits permitted by technical standards. In this scenario, the selection of blast furnace slag cement and fly ash cement does not necessarily offer environmental benefits to the country as a whole and does not demonstrate a global impact, despite the possibility of benefiting specific construction sites. The substitution of the fuel mix for coal from planted forest wood can lower the portion of cement emissions due to fuel burning from 350 kg to 10 kg of CO2 per tonne of clinker produced. The efficiency of the concrete mix formulation shows great potential to lower the amount of cement usage in concrete, thus lowering the total CO2 emissions of concrete. The data presented point to a variation of more than 100% of cement content in concretes of the same strength. The influence of the standard deviation of the production process shows smaller impact on lowering concrete CO2 emissions shows that there is a maximum potential of 13% of lowering cement content in concrete. The combination of the four strategies studied demonstrates the complexity of concretes emissions and the great potential for mitigating its CO2 emissions. The need for information on cements specific emissions, its clinker content and fuel mix, the concrete mix formulation and the variability of the production process of concrete show that there is, for concrete raw material suppliers as well as concrete producers and users, a lot to be done to minimize the emissions of this widely consumed material.

L’énergie nucléaire, qui est une technologie de génération largement utilisée dans des systèmes électriques, est caractérisée par des coûts fixes élevés et des coûts variables bas. Pour amortir ses coûts fixes, le nucléaire est préférentiellement utilisé pour une opération en base inflexible, c’est-à-dire opérer à un niveau constant pour répondre à la partie non variable de la demande d’un système électrique et produire au maximum de sa propre capacité. En raison de cette spécificité, l’insertion de la production nucléaire dans les marchés concurrentiels d’électricité n’a pas été profondément étudiée jusqu’à présent. Par conséquent, même dans des marchés concurrentiels, la question de la gestion optimale d’un parc de production nucléaire n’a pas été soulevée parce que la production nucléaire est censée fonctionner en continu (pour couvrir la demande de base). Cependant, il y a des cas ou` la gestion de la production nucléaire semble plus complexe que ne le suggère cette vision simplifiée. En règle générale, lorsque la proportion de l’énergie nucléaire dans un parc de production est élevée, la production nucléaire doit s’adapter aux variations de la demande. Cela soulève la question de la façon optimale de gérer cette technologie de production dans ce contexte. Comme cette question n’a pas été étudiée jusqu’à présent, il est nécessaire de proposer un cadre théorique qui permet une analyse des situations comme celle de la France, avec un marché concurrentiel et où le nucléaire représente 80% de la production, c’est-à-dire beaucoup plus que ce qui serait nécessaire pour couvrir la demande de base. Nous nous plaçons dans un horizon à moyen terme de la gestion (1 à 3 ans) pour tenir compte de la variation saisonnière de la demande. A moyen terme, le gestionnaire d’un parc nucléaire très large (comme le parc français) doit ajuster sa production selon les variations saisonnières de la demande. Dans ce cadre, le stock de combustible nucléaire peut être analysé comme un réservoir puisque les centrales nucléaires s’arrêtent périodiquement (tous les 12 ou 18 mois) pour recharger leur combustible. La gestion de ce réservoir permet de profils différents d’usages de combustible nucléaire au cours des différentes saisons de l’année. Ainsi, nous nous pencherons sur cette question comme une analyse économique rationnelle de l’opération d’un “réservoir” de combustible nucléaire. Nous allons ensuite l’analyser dans un cadre général déterministe dynamique avec deux types de production : nucléaire et thermique non-nucléaire. Nous étudions la gestion optimale de la production dans un marché parfaitement concurrentiel. Ensuite, nous établissons un modèle numérique (basé sur les données du marché français) où les centrales nucléaires ne sont pas opérées à production constante, mais dans un cadre de placement flexible (comme le parc nucléaire français). […] / Nuclear power as a generation technology that is widely used in electricity production systems is characterized by high fixed costs and low variable costs. To amortize its fixed costs, nuclear is preferentially used for inflexible baseload operation, i.e. operate at a constant level to meet the non variable part of electricity demand of a system and produce at its maximum capacity. Because of this specificity, the insertion of nuclear production in competitive electricity markets has not been deeply studied so far. Therefore, even in competitive markets, the question of the optimal management of a nuclear generation set has not been raised because nuclear production is supposed to operate continuously (to cover baseline demand). However, there are cases where the management of nuclear generation seems more complex than suggested by this simplified view. Typically, when the proportion of nuclear energy in a production set is high, the nuclear generation output has to adjust to the variations in demand. This raises the question of the optimal way to manage this production technology in that kind of setting. As this question has not been studied so far, there is a need for a theoretical framework that enables an analysis of situations like the French one, with a competitive market and where nuclear represents 80% of generation, i.e. much more that what would be necessary to cover the baseload demand. We place ourselves in a medium-term horizon of the management (1 to 3 years) to take into account the seasonal variation of the demand level. In the medium-term, the manager of a large nuclear set (like the French set) has to set its seasonal variation of output according to the demand level. Since nuclear units have to stop periodically (from 12 to 18 months) to reload their fuel, we can analyze the nuclear fuel as a stock behaving like a reservoir. The operation of the reservoir allows different profiles of nuclear fuel use during the different demand seasons of the year. Thus, we will look at this question as a rational economic analysis of the operation of a nuclear fuel “reservoir”. We then analyze it within a general deterministic dynamic framework with two types of generation: nuclear and thermal non-nuclear. We study the optimal management of the production in a perfectly competitive market. Then, we establish a numerical model (based on data from the French market) with nuclear plants being not operated strictly as base load power plants but within a flexible dispatch frame (like the French nuclear set). [...]