Hanson UK teams up with Swansea University for research into replacing fossil fuels in cement production
A green hydrogen unit has been installed at an industrial factory for construction materials in Port Talbot, as part of a research project to explore how the zero carbon technology could be used to replace fossil fuels in concrete and cement production.
Construction materials supplier Hanson UK announced yesterday it has teamed up with researchers at Swansea University to install the hydrogen demonstration unit at the blast furnace facility in South Wales, where the firm produces a cement-replacement material used in concrete.
Cement production is hugely energy intensive due to the high temperatures required to produce clinker, the main component of Portland cement, and the sector therefore relies heavily on fossil fuels such as coal to provide its energy needs.
As a result concrete and cement production is a major emitter, estimated to be responsible for around eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers hope the Port Talbot project could help to develop greener fuel solutions for the sector that could be deployed globally.
"It is estimated that cement is the source of just under 1.5 per cent of UK CO2 emissions," said Marian Garfield, head of sustainability at Hanson UK. "With demand for cement and cement replacement products predicted to increase by a quarter by 2030, researchers and industry are working hard to reduce the level of carbon emissions associated with production."
The demonstrator hydrogen unit installed at the Port Talbot facility produces hydrogen through electrolysis, which harnesses renewable power from wind and solar generation on site to split water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen, without producing any CO2. The hydrogen can then be used as a fuel for a number of applications, including as a replacement for fossil fuels burned for energy.
Dr Charlie Dunnill, who is leading the research team based at Swansea University's Energy Safety Research Institute, said it has been "amazing to see technology from our labs interacting in real time with local industry, actually producing hydrogen that can be burned in exchange for natural gas to lower their green-house emissions".
Hanson UK - which produces aggregates, concreate, asphalt and cement across 300 manufacturing sites in the UK - is part of the HeidelbergCement Group, the world's fourth largest cement company which has set a target to produce carbon neutral concrete by 2050 at the latest.
The company has itself reduced its CO2 emissions by 30 per cent since 1990, and has set a goal to achieve a 50 per cent reduction by 2030 against the same baseline.
"As a leading manufacturer we take our responsibility very seriously," said Garfield. "We are constantly looking to improve energy efficiency and carbon reduction at our cement and Regen plants, so we are delighted to be involved with this innovative research project."
The EU-backed green hydrogen project at Port Talbot forms part of the £9.2m Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions (RICE) initiative, which aims to test and drive forward new technologies that can reduce carbon emissions from Welsh industry.
Professor Andrew Barron, principal investigator of the RICE project, said it was "important to give industry scalable pathways" to reach net zero." The RICE project is all about doing this, since there is no longer time for more research projects, it is time for action," he added.