The Long Road for Low-Carbon Cement: A Tug-of-War Between Cost and Benefit

低碳水泥的漫漫長路：

成本與效益的拉鋸戰，政府能否成為破局關鍵？

Can Government Intervention Be the Game-Changer?

As the world rides the wave of net-zero emissions, the construction industry, a major carbon emitter, is facing a green revolution, with low-carbon cement undoubtedly at its core. However, the path to popularizing this environmentally friendly and sustainable building material has been fraught with challenges globally. The issue isn't product quality or immature technology; the real crux of the matter lies in the fact that most business owners struggle to see immediate returns on the increased investment.

在全球淨零排放的浪潮下，建築業這個「排碳大戶」正迎來一場綠色革命，而低碳水泥無疑是這場革命的核心要角。然而，這項兼具環保與永續性的建材，在全球市場的普及之路卻走得異常艱辛。問題並非出在產品品質或技術未臻成熟，真正的癥結點，在於多數企業主在成本與效益的算盤上，難以看到立即性的回報。

Microsoft and Sublime Systems Are Reinventing Cement for a Greener Future. Credit: Decarbonfuse

For businesses, adopting low-carbon cement means higher initial costs. Traditional cement has been in use for decades, with a stable supply chain and low prices. In contrast, the production processes, raw material substitution, or carbon capture technologies for low-carbon cement currently drive up expenses. "Loving the Earth and reducing carbon is a shared responsibility, but as a business owner, I must first be accountable for my employees' salaries," confessed an anonymous construction industry executive. "Without immediate economic incentives, it's truly difficult to ask us to sacrifice profits to embrace a product whose benefits will only manifest in the long term."

對企業而言，導入低碳水泥意味著初期成本的增加。傳統水泥行之有年，供應鏈穩定且價格低廉；相較之下，低碳水泥的生產製程、原料替代或碳捕捉技術，現階段仍會墊高費用。一位不願具名的建築業者坦言：「愛地球、節能減碳是我們的共同責任，但身為老闆，我必須先對員工的薪水負責。在沒有立即經濟誘因的情況下，要我們主動犧牲利潤去擁抱一個長期才能顯現效益的產品，確實非常兩難。」

This sentiment reflects a common predicament in the market. Businesses are profit-oriented, and any increase in cost must be justified by a corresponding value return. Although low-carbon cement can enhance a company's sustainable image (ESG) and may even reduce long-term maintenance costs due to better durability, these benefits are difficult to quantify in the short term and do not directly reflect on current financial statements.

這種心聲反映了市場的普遍困境。企業的營運以追求利潤為導向，在商言商，任何成本的提升都必須有相對應的價值回饋。儘管低碳水泥能提升企業的永續形象（ESG），甚至在長期來看可能因其更佳的耐久性而降低維護成本，但這些效益在短期內難以量化，更無法直接反映在當期的財務報表上。

Therefore, the role of government becomes critically important. Without strong government intervention, relying solely on free-market mechanisms will likely result in a snail's pace for the adoption of low-carbon cement. Governments can enact stricter building carbon emission regulations, mandating or encouraging new projects to use a certain percentage of green building materials. Furthermore, providing tangible financial subsidies, tax reductions, or establishing preferential green procurement mechanisms can effectively lower the entry barrier for companies, creating "visible" benefits that can drive market demand.

因此，政府的角色在此刻顯得至關重要。若無政府的強力介入，單靠市場的自由機制，低碳水泥的普及進程恐將牛步化。政府可以透過制定更嚴格的建築碳排法規，強制或鼓勵新建案採用一定比例的綠色建材。此外，提供實質的財政補貼、稅務減免，或是建立綠色採購的優先機制，都能有效降低企業的導入門檻，創造「看得到」的效益，進而驅動市場需求。

Microsoft and Sublime Systems Are Reinventing Cement for a Greener Future. Credit: Decarbonfuse

International Benchmarks: The Foresight of Microsoft and Amazon

國際標竿：微軟與亞馬遜的遠見

In contrast, many forward-thinking international corporations have already integrated low-carbon cement as a key component of their sustainability strategies. Tech giant Microsoft has been procuring low-carbon cement on a large scale for the construction of its global data centers, viewing it as a crucial pathway to achieving its corporate carbon neutrality goals. Similarly, e-commerce leader Amazon has extensively used low-carbon concrete in its second headquarters (HQ2) and global logistics facilities, while also investing in related startups, demonstrating its determination to lead a supply chain transformation. These actions are more than just material procurement; they send a clear signal to the market: sustainability is the future of competitiveness.

反觀國際，許多具前瞻性的領導企業早已將低碳水泥視為其永續發展策略的關鍵一環。科技巨擘微軟（Microsoft）近年來大舉採購低碳水泥，用於其全球資料中心的建設，並將其視為達成企業碳中和目標的重要路徑。無獨有偶，電商龍頭亞馬遜（Amazon）同樣在其第二總部（HQ2）及全球物流設施中，大量採用低碳混凝土，並投資相關新創公司，展現其引領供應鏈轉型的決心。這些企業的行動不僅僅是單純的建材採購，更是向市場發出一個明確的信號：永續性就是未來的競爭力。

TCC chairman An-ping Chang. Credit: DIGITIMES

Taiwan's Pioneers: The Practices of TCC and ACC

台灣的先行者：台泥與亞泥的實踐

In Taiwan, some companies have also begun to walk at the forefront of this green path. Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) has not only launched Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) with a carbon reduction of over 15% but also joined forces with 100 construction firms in 2023 to establish the "Low-Carbon Construction Pioneer Alliance," promoting the application of low-carbon building materials through collective strength. By the end of 2024, their shipments of low-carbon concrete had already significantly reduced CO2 emissions by tens of thousands of tons, yielding remarkable results.

在台灣，亦有企業開始走在這條綠色道路的前端。台灣水泥（TCC） 不僅推出了減碳達15%以上的卜特蘭石灰石水泥（PLC），更在2023年攜手百家營建業者，成立「低碳建築先鋒聯盟」，透過團體的力量，共同推動低碳建材的應用。截至2024年底，其低碳混凝土的出貨量已大幅減少了數萬噸的二氧化碳排放，成果斐然。

Chen Chih-Hsien, the Chief Deputy Plant Manager of Asia Cement's Hualien Plant. Credit: Industrial Development Bureau, MOEA

Another major cement manufacturer, Asia Cement Corporation (ACC), leads the industry in product carbon footprint. All its cement products have completed carbon footprint verification, and it has successfully developed the low-carbon cement product with the lowest carbon footprint in Taiwan to date. ACC's masonry cement and Portland limestone cement are not only actively promoted in the domestic market, but the company also showcases the performance and advantages of its low-carbon products at major building material exhibitions. In 2023, sales of its low-carbon masonry cement grew exponentially.

另一水泥大廠亞洲水泥（ACC） 則在產品碳足跡上領先業界，其所有水泥產品均完成碳足跡盤查，並成功開發出台灣目前碳足跡最低的低碳水泥產品。亞泥的「砌築水泥」與「卜特蘭石灰石水泥」不僅在國內市場上積極推廣，更透過參與各大建材展，向業界證明低碳產品的性能與優勢，2023年其低碳砌築水泥的銷量更呈現倍數增長。

From international giants to local Taiwanese enterprises, these success stories prove the feasibility and value of low-carbon cement. However, to expand these pioneering cases into common practice across the entire industry, relying on corporate moral appeals and foresight is clearly not enough. Governments must introduce more concrete policy tools to provide a clear, visible green light for businesses at the crossroads of cost and sustainability, guiding the entire construction industry to move steadily toward a truly low-carbon future.

從國際巨擘到台灣的在地企業，這些成功案例證明了低碳水泥的可行性與價值。然而，要將這些「先行者」的個案，擴展為整個行業的普遍實踐，單靠企業的道德呼籲與遠見顯然不足。政府需要拿出更具體的政策工具，為企業在成本與永續的十字路口上，點亮一盞清晰可見的綠燈，引導整個建築產業，穩健地走向真正的低碳未來。

English: Bruno Huang

中文: Bruno Huang