AbstractAn energy audit was performed to determine the energy patterns of the cement industry in United Arab Emirates (UAE). A macro‐energy analysis revealed that the cement industry consumes annually 467,000 tons of oil equivalent (TOE). The thermal energy consumption represents 81–91% of the total utilized energy. The breakdown of the overall energy requirements among the most important unit processes was determined covering the cement production lines in the UAE and was compared with published values in the literature.A micro‐energy analysis was also carried out for one of the cement production lines to determine the thermal energy disposition by type. The study revealed that the thermal losses via the exit gases and the radiation losses account for 25 and 13%, respectively, of the total input thermal energy.Opportunities for energy conservation such as a change from expensive liquid fuels to relatively cheap natural gas and the modification of existing energy consuming systems are disc