CO2 consuming concrete technology showcased at COP26 to be tested at University of Warwick

• Concrete contributes to 8% of global CO2e emissions, however Concrete4Change are on a mission to make concrete CO2 sinks rather than producers
• The CO2 sequestrating technology is being developed with the help of the School of Engineering and WMG SME group at the University of Warwick
• Researchers will help by testing the concrete which could revolutionise the concrete industry
• Concrete4Change won the award for Achieving Net Zero category at the UN Climate Change Cup last night at COP26

Technology developed by Concrete4Change that can make concrete a carbon sink rather than carbon producer will be trialled and tested by researchers from the University of Warwick. The technology which could revolutionise the concrete industry on a global scale, has been showcased and won an award at COP26.

After water concrete is the most consumed material in the world, and accounts for 8% of global CO2e emissions. However, Concrete4Change Ltd. (C4C) are on a mission is to enable the concrete industry to transition from CO2 emitters to CO2 sinks, by developing a technology capable of removing significant amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere and absorbing it into concrete.

In fact, it was announced last night at COP26 that Concrete4Change have been announced as the winner of the Achieving Net Zero category of the 2021 UN Climate Change Challenge Awards.

The sequestration of CO2 results in the strength enhancement of concrete; therefore, reducing the amount of cement required to produce equivalent-strength concrete. Both CO2 sequestration and cement reduction can contribute to the reduction of concrete’s CO2 footprint. This technology has the potential to mitigate 2 billion tonnes of CO2e emissions, the equivalent of 4% of global CO2e emissions.

The School of Engineering and WMG centre High Value Manufacturing Catapult at the University of Warwick are proud to be supporting Concrete4Change, by undertaking essential testing for the company with the help of funding through Innovate UK and the DI4M programme.

Dr Reyes Garcia from the School of Engineering comments: “As the world strives to reach zero-carbon goals, the construction industry and we civil engineers have a huge role to play to make concrete more sustainable. The cement we use to produce concrete contributes massively to CO2 emissions, and therefore we need to take drastic action now if the construction sector is to achieve its CO2 reduction goals. Here, at the School of Engineering, we are incredibly excited to support Concrete4Change by performing concrete technology and durability tests, which are critical to prove that the technology can be safely adopted by designers, contractors and concrete producers”.

Dave Myers from the WMG SME group at the University of Warwick comments: “In order to make sure the concrete made by this innovative technology is as good, as if not better than previous standards we will be assisting Concrete4Change by completing testing and microscopical examination. Once testing has been completed the partnerships that C4C have made can help bring this technology to market and reinvent the concrete industry into a more sustainable and eco-friendlier one.”

Concrete4Change has built partnerships with other leading academic institutions as well as with some of the largest concrete producers in the world including Hanson Heidelberg, Kier, SIG, Morgan Sindall and Skanska.

Dr Sid Pourfalah, Founder and CEO of Concrete4Change comments: “We are delighted to have the help to bring our unique technology to the market with help with the University of Warwick, not only are we showcasing our technology at COP26, but we have also been selected by Brazilian Ideiagov as one of the top 10 companies to tackle Latin America’s Net-Zero Challenge, bringing us hope that our technology is transferrable worldwide, and can help us shape tomorrow for future generations.”

C4C has also been selected by British Precast Federation as one of the top 3 most innovative companies and as one of the top 5 companies for Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI).

This article was first published on 11 November by University of Warwick.