Cement 2 Zero (C2Z), a UK-based demonstrator project to trial the world’s first zero-emissions cement on an industrial scale, was officially launched this week having successfully conducted the first in a series of pilot-scale melts. Tarmac (CRH Group) is among the project participants to represent the cement sector.
The innovative project, which secured GBP6.5m (EUR6.75m) of government funding from UKRI as part of the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge, aims to further advance the construction, cement and steel sectors’ decarbonisation journey to net zero industries of the future, to help meet the UK government’s commitment of achieving Net Zero by 2050.
Led by the Materials Processing Institute, supported by the University of Cambridge (UoC), and in collaboration with key players in the supply chain, Cement 2 Zero is the first collaborative trial of its kind, to address the global construction industry’s biggest challenge of decarbonisation, in response to the climate emergency.
The first phase of trial melts is being carried out by the Materials Processing Institute, initially in a 250kg induction furnace, before being scaled up to 6t in an electric arc furnace (EAF). Once the process has been substantially trialled, developed and de-risked effectively, 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.
Cement 2 Zero will have a two-year industrial trial
