Circular Economy
Concreate is a foundational pillar of civilisation and whilst it accounts for around 8% of global emissions, it’s a relatively easy answer for “hard to abate” emissions. That’s because over time concrete reabsorbs the CO2 emitted during production. Furthermore, if manufacturing is completed using heat from carbon free sources and direct air capture technology is used to capture the resulting emissions, concrete production becomes carbon negative! Reducing carbon intensity in the construction industry is one challenge but this can be married with other initiatives to promote circularity. Enter the United Kingdom-based University of Sheffield’s pioneering £GBP 6 million “BuildZero” project. Announced in March, this endeavour seeks to revolutionise the UK’s construction sector towards a circular economy model by striving for zero new material extractions, zero emissions, and zero waste. By adopting a systems-level approach, BuildZero will explore sustainable building practices, focusing on repurposing and retrofitting existing buildings to extend their lifespan, thereby minimising the need for new materials and reducing waste and emissions. The university’s research, spanning across disciplines such as architecture, structural engineering, materials science, and social sciences, aims to develop interactive tools, strategies, and demonstrator projects to realise a sustainable, circular economy in the built environment.1
Environmental Impact
In March, the Biden administration pledged over $USD 6 billion to kickstart decarbonisation in “difficult to decarbonise” sectors like cement, steel, and chemicals. The funding also has the potential to attract an additional $USD 14 billion in private investments. Heavy industry, which accounts for a third of U.S. emissions, now has a stronger push towards Net Zero, challenging China’s current dominance in clean tech innovation. As part of this funding initiative, a total of 33 projects have been selected to enter cooperative agreements with the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. These agreements cover a range of stages from engineering design and development to permitting and construction, with a timeline spanning three to seven years. One highlight involves the chemicals and refining sector with 7 projects aimed at transforming “carbon intensity” into an advantage, fostering circularity and securing supply chains for clean fuels and essential components for EVs. These projects focus on upcycling captured carbon, generating high-quality fuels and materials from recycled products, and substituting fossil-fired processes with cleaner ones.2