Displaying items by tag: alternative raw materials
US: The Department of Energy has awarded cement-free concrete developer C-Crete Technologies US$950,000-worth of research funding. The company will put the funds towards developing its concrete using new feedstocks.
Resources News has reported that C-Crete Technologies’ president Rouzbeh Savary said "By enlarging our technology toolbox to utilise geographically versatile and abundant feedstocks, we can ensure that local materials can be converted to cementitious binders, eliminating the need for shipping such materials over long distances.”
CarbonBuilt’s reduced-CO2 concrete block technology win three Fast Company Innovation by Design prizes
24 August 2023US: Carbon Built’s proprietary technology for the production of reduced-CO2 concrete blocks won awards across three categories at the Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards 2023. The product won the Circular Design, Materials and Sustainability prizes. Carbon Built’s technology enables existing concrete block plants to use common alternative raw materials to produce blocks with 70 – 100% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement-based blocks.
Australia: Alternative cement and concrete producers have welcomed a new Australian civil engineering standard that allows builders to use reduced-CO2 geopolymer concrete in infrastructure projects. Wagners, which produces Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC), said that the revision has removed one if its key barriers to wider market acceptance. EFC replaces 100% of cement with supplementary cementitious materials, including ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and pulverised fly ash, by virtue of its binder technology. Wagners previously supplied EFC for the London Power Tunnels project in the UK, based on local technical approval-based building codes. The producer now expects a new standard like the Australian one to follow in the EU.
US: Prometheus Materials' microalgae biocement-based bioconcrete has demonstrated 12 times greater sound absorption than concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Prometheus Materials' bioconcrete contains its biocement, which is produced at ambient temperature, without process CO2 emissions.
Ecocem to supply ACT alternative cement to POINT.P
13 July 2023France: Ireland-based Ecocem has entered into a new agreement with Saint-Gobain's France-based concrete subsidiary POINT.P. Under the agreement, Ecocem will supply its ACT alternative cement for use in POINT.P's precast and ready-mix concrete production. Ecocem said that the partnership is an opportunity for it to develop and market new low-carbon binders.
Ecocem executive director Olivier Guise said "This partnership with POINT.P is a natural extension of the alliance announced with the Saint-Gobain Group in October 2022. The shared objective is to accelerate the widespread deployment of low-carbon cements in France, both in the ready-mix concrete and precast concrete markets. By paving the way for the replacement of current traditional cements with ACT technology, our partner POINT.P has a real opportunity to meet its ambitious carbon reduction targets by 2030. We are firmly committed to this partnership and to working with a partner who shares our ambitions for rapid decarbonisation of the construction industry."
Ecocem is 25% owned by France-based Saint-Gobain.
France: Lafarge France is participating in a 76-unit housing development project called Recygénie, at Gennevilliers in Hauts-de-Seine. Lafarge France will supply the project with 100% recycled concrete for use in facades, interior walls and roof slabs. It produced 2000t of 100% recycled 'clinker' at its Altkirch cement plant in Haut-Rhin during a suspension of ordinary clinker production in 2022. It has produced 1600m3 of recycled concrete to date. The concrete won the New Materials Prize at L'Usine Nouvelle's Sustainable Industry Awards 2023.
The Recygénie housing project is due for delivery in late 2024.
Global Cement and Concrete Association announces Innovandi Open Challenge 2023 shortlist
30 June 2023World: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has named the 15 anticipated deliverers of low-CO2 cement and concrete production shortlisted for participation in its second Innovandi Open Challenge. The association chose the start-ups based on their potential to deliver CO2 emissions reduction in the global cement and concrete sector in line with its Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. The applicants are presenting their pitches to GCCA members on 30 June 2023. All those accepted will gain access to members' plants, labs, networks and expertise. The following start-ups made the Innovandi Open Challenge 2023 shortlist:
Arrakis Materials | US | Carbon negative materials for concrete |
Chement | US | Room temperature cement production |
EcoAdmix Global | UK | Nanotechnology ('HDT') for concrete |
EcoLocked | Germany | Biocarbon-based admixtures |
EnviCore | Canada | Low temperature supplementary cementitious material production |
Enzymatic | US | Carbon negative enzymatic concrete corrosion inhibition and recycling |
Louis Structures | US | Municipal solid waste-based lightweight aggregates |
MEP - SeaMix | US | Basalt fibre and graphene-based admixture |
Nano Crete | US | Graphene-enhanced CO2 sequestration |
Nanospan India | India | Graphene-based admixture |
NeoCrete | New Zealand | Nano-activator for natural pozzolans |
Queens Carbon | US | ~500°C cementitious materials production |
The Cool Corporation | UK | Carbon negative carbon nanotube-based additive for concrete |
Ultra High Materials | US | Clinkerless cement |
Versarien Graphene | UK | Graphene-based admixture ('Cementene') |
GCCA cement director and innovation lead Claude Loréa said “We received more than 70 quality applications, so drawing up a shortlist was challenging." Loréa continued "Our essential industry needs something easily scalable and affordable. Those start-ups on the list demonstrated the most potential, and we look forward to hearing more about their ideas. But we’ll also be keeping in touch with other start-ups who didn’t make this year’s shortlist, with future projects in mind.”
US: Eco Material Technologies has supplied its PozzoCEM Vite clinker-free cement to 3D printing construction firm Hive 3D for its The Casitas @ The Halles project in Texas. PozzoCEM Vite cement has 92% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The producer said that concrete produced using PozzoCEM Vite is also more durable and longer lasting than OPC-based concrete. Eco Material Technologies and Hive 3D developed a custom batching system to mix PozzoCEM Vite cement and local Texan sand for use in the project. Eco Material Technologies said that the system created a significant cost reduction compared with other available printable mortar technologies.
Eco Material Technologies recently launched a new 99% reduced CO2 PozzoCEM formulation, which it expects to use in future projects with Hive 3D. Other reduced-CO2 cements produced by Eco Material Technologies include its PozzoSlag 50% ground granulated blast furnace slag cement. In total, Eco Material Technologies has supplied 1Mt of reduced-CO2 cements across 4000 construction sites since 2012. It said that it expects to announce multiple new infrastructure projects and strategic partnerships later in 2023.
Eco Material Technologies' CEO Grant Quasha said “Hive 3D’s commitment to building the first 100% cement replacement 3D printed homes aligns with our goal of transitioning the construction industry away from using materials that generate approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions each year."
Holcim US launches ECOPact concrete in Colorado
11 May 2023US: Holcim US has begun selling ECOPact reduced-CO2 concrete in the Colorado Springs, Denver and Pueblo markets in Colorado. The producer says that the range offers 30 - 90% lower CO2 emissions than concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Colorado aims to achieve CO2 emissions reductions of 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050.
Holcim US' Mountain regional general manager and senior vice president Kevin Peart said "Sustainable construction is essential to building a net-zero future in Colorado and across the nation. Denver has consistently ranked as one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, and Colorado Springs is projected to become the state's largest city within the next 15 years. Low-carbon, high-performance building solutions such as ECOPact are essential to mitigating climate change and creating a more sustainable, resilient urban landscape."
US: Holcim US has announced the launch of its ECOPact reduced-CO2 concrete in the Fargo, North Dakota, and Twin Cities, Minnesota, metropolitan areas. ECOPact products offer up to 80% reduced CO2 emissions compared with ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based concretes, and can also integrate construction and demolition waste. Holcim US has sold the ECOPact range in Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington DC since 2020.
Holcim US' North Central regional senior vice president Randy Gaworski said "With countless developments already in the pipeline, and so much on the horizon, engineers, architects and developers are driving demand to integrate sustainable building practices throughout the region. This is an exciting opportunity to offer our customers high-quality, low-carbon products for meeting our shared commitments to sustainability and net-zero construction."