Evaluating the Use of Alternative Fuels in Cement Production for Environmental Sustainability

This study empirically examines the impact of 30% alternative fuel (AF) adoption on the emission of CO2 to the environment in the UAE cement industry. The researchers employed a quantitative method to robustly analyze secondary data obtained from the 12 cement manufacturing units of the UAE, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and peer-reviewed published papers. The researcher’s main focus was on data from 2018 to 2024 and aligned that with the UAE Green Agenda 2030. The data analysis was conducted through a well-known software, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and tests like descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression were employed. The correlation analysis showed that there is a strong negative relationship between AF adoption and CO2 emissions. The test also showed that the relationship is inverse, that is, increasing the adoption rate of AF lowers CO2 emissions and thus positively impacts the environment. The Pearson correlation analysis (r = −0.82) showed a strong inverse relationship between the independent and dependent variables. This strong relationship was further revealed and confirmed by the regression analysis, and AF as an individual independent variable explained a 67% reduction in CO2 emission (R2 = 0.67), while a combination with mediating variables, such as economic incentives and the integration of advanced technologies, further increased the impact to 83%, where the explanatory power jumped to R2 = 0.83 (p < 0.001). As the relationship is strongly inverse between the independent and dependent variables, this reinforces the hypothesis that AF adoption is a good strategy to decarbonize the production of cement and make the operations sustainable.