Cement 2 Zero, the ‘world’s first’ zero-emissions cement industrial trial, has launched in the UK and has conducted the first in a series of pilot-scale melts
Cement 2 Zero has secured £6.5m of Government funding from UKRI as part of the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge.
The zero-emissions industrial trial aims to further advance the construction, cement and steel sectors’ decarbonisation journey to net zero industries of the future. It will help to meet the net zero by 2050 initiative.
Cement 2 Zero is the first collaborative trial of its kind to address decarbonisation in the global construction industry. It is being led by the Materials Processing Institute and supported by the University of Cambridge (UoC).
Chemical and thermal combustion processes involved in cement production are a significant source of Co2 emissions
Concrete is the most widely used material on earth after water, with more than four billion tonnes of cement produced yearly, accounting for around seven per cent of global Co2 emissions, according to the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA).
The Cement 2 Zero project will investigate the technical and commercial aspects of upscaling Cambridge Electric Cement (CEC) production to produce 20 tonnes of the world’s first zero-emissions cement.
The first phase of trial melts is being carried out by the Materials Processing Institute
Once the process has been substantially trialled, developed, and de-risked, industrial-scale melts will follow in CELSA’s EAF in Cardiff.
The two-year industrial trial will test each stage of the production process and brings together the expertise of the Materials Processing Institute, the University of Cambridge and key supply chain partners – Atkins, Balfour Beatty, CELSA, Day Aggregates and Tarmac – before using the innovative product in a live UK construction project.
If Cement 2 Zero is successful, it will not only further advance the cement, steel and construction industries but also influence the way that we recycle, construct and maintain our built environment and transport infrastructure.
Achieving a zero-carbon society
Chris McDonald, chief executive officer of the Materials Processing Institute, commented: “Cement 2 Zero has the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving a zero-carbon society, secure and increase jobs in the UK cement and steel sectors and challenge conventional production processes, creating high-value materials from demolition waste.”
‘An invaluable opportunity to collaborate across the entire construction supply chain’
Dr Philippa Horton, University of Cambridge, who created the project consortium, added: “If Cambridge Electric Cement lives up to the promise it has shown in early laboratory trials, when combined with other innovative technologies, it could be a pivotal point in the journey to a zero-emissions society.
“The Cement 2 Zero project is an invaluable opportunity to collaborate across the entire construction supply chain, to expand CEC from the laboratory to its first commercial application.”
Three researchers at the University of Cambridge, Dr Cyrille Dunant, Professor Julian Allwood and Dr Philippa Horton, invented a process that converts construction and demolition waste to cement over molten steel using an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), which is used to recycle scrap steel.
The zero-emissions cement industrial trial aims to demonstrate how concrete can be recycled to create a Slag Forming addition which could replace Portland cement when cooled rapidly.
A viably economic route to advancing the decarbonisation of the construction industry
Cement 2 Zero hopes to demonstrate an economically viable route to advancing the decarbonisation of the construction industry by eliminating emissions derived from cement production.
The zero-emissions cement industrial trial will also improve the robustness of the supply chain and stimulate greener foundation industries which play a key role in all future infrastructure developments and support the growth of the UK economy.
