Cement industry is one of the largest carbon emitting industrial sectors. It is responsible for about 5% of anthropogenic CO2 in the world. Therefore, it is a relevant industrial sector for CO2 emission regulation strategies. Bearing in mind the importance of cement industry in Croatia, and because of the fact that Croatia will soon become an EU member state, the present paper analyses the potential to reduce CO2 emission in the Croatian cement industry. There are several measures that can reduce CO2 emissions from the cement manufacturing process: the use of waste heat as an alternative source of energy; CO2 capture and storage technologies; reduction of clinker to cement ratio; the use of alternative and biomass fuels; the use of alternative raw materials; an energy efficient combustion process. The most energy efficient technology for cement manufacturing today is the use of a rotary kiln together with a multi-stage pre-heater and a calciner. Since the use of cement calciners is a relatively new technology, further improvement of their operating conditions is still needed. This paper also highlights the results of research in the field of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations that are used for the investigation of process and combustion emissions. The above mentioned measures together with numerical investigations can reduce the effect of cement manufacturing in Croatia on the environment and can make it more competitive with cement manufacturers from the EU. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.