Low-Carbon Concrete: A Systematized Review of Materials, Technologies, and Pathways to Decarbonization

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a comprehensive comparison of low-carbon concrete technologies with quantified reduction potentials and identifies key research gaps in standardization and LCA.

🏢実務担当者:Offers actionable insights on technology readiness, cost-effectiveness, and compatibility with existing infrastructure for corporate sustainability teams.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights regulatory barriers and the need for supportive policies to scale low-carbon concrete, relevant for national decarbonization strategies.

The production of concrete is responsible for 8%–10% of the world's anthropogenic CO2 emissions, due to the clinker-intensive nature of cement manufacturing. As a result, decarbonizing the cement and concrete industry is essential to meet global climate goals. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), limestone calcined clay cement (LC3), geopolymer and alkali-activated systems, recycled aggregate concrete, and carbon capture and utilization (CCU)-based concrete are among the emerging low-carbon concrete technologies that are methodically assessed in this research. Comparative analysis indicates that these technologies can reduce life cycle CO2 emissions by approximately 15%–80%, depending on material selection, curing conditions, and system boundaries. SCM-based systems and LC3 currently represent the most scalable and cost-effective solutions due to their compatibility with existing industrial infrastructure, while geopolymer concrete offers the highest theoretical emission reduction potential but faces challenges related to standardization and large-scale implementation. CCU-based systems provide additional sequestration opportunities, although their net climate benefit depends strongly on energy inputs and CO2 supply chains. This systematized review further examines durability performance, life cycle assessment (LCA), economic feasibility, regulatory barriers, and future integration of digital tools such as artificial intelligence for mix optimization. The findings highlight that no single technology provides a universal solution; instead, hybrid and region-specific deployment strategies are necessary for practical decarbonization of the global cement and concrete industry. This article is presented as a structured narrative review incorporating systematic literature screening and comparative synthesis methodologies. This study is presented as a systematized review integrating comparative techno-environmental synthesis, literature-based scoring, and decision-oriented evaluation of low-carbon concrete technologies.

• crossref https://doi.org/10.70389/pje.100010first seen 2026-05-27 05:06:12