Embodied Emissions
2022A company and a technology developed by PhD students at Imperial College London. The technology is considered by the jury to best represent the focus of 2022, which is: seminal architectural solutions which are CO2 neutral (or less), factoring in all embodied emissions.
THE SERATECH PROCESS
The Seratech Process
PhD students at Imperial College London, Sam Draper and Barney Shanks, have found a way to produce carbon-neutral concrete.
The team, which consists of material scientists and engineers, has developed an efficient, low-cost process to capture CO2 emissions directly from industrial flues. The process captures and stores all the CO2 through a chemical process, which also yields a cement additive – a silica – that can replace the amount of Portland cement in the concrete mix by up to 40%. The carbon capture associated with producing the silica means the concrete products can be zero carbon.
The raw materials used in Seratech’s process – waste CO2 and a magnesium silicate mineral – are naturally abundant all over the globe. Furthermore, the process integrates into existing manufacturing lines and the equipment used in concrete production. As such, it is possible to implement in every cement plant around the world and does not require major shifts in current practices or mindsets.
Given the huge carbon footprint of the construction industry, Seratech’s process has the potential to significantly reduce embodied emissions globally and to support future low-carbon construction.
Seratech is currently developing the design of a pilot plant to model the process at large scale.
JURY’S STATEMENT
PhD students at Imperial College London, Sam Draper and Barney Shanks, have found a way to produce carbon-neutral concrete.
The team, which consists of material scientists and engineers, has developed an efficient, low-cost process to capture CO2 emissions directly from industrial flues. The process captures and stores all the CO2 through a chemical process, which also yields a cement additive – a silica – that can replace the amount of Portland cement in the concrete mix by up to 40%. The carbon capture associated with producing the silica means the concrete products can be zero carbon.
SERATECH BUSINESS HISTORY
PhD students at Imperial College London, Sam Draper and Barney Shanks, have found a way to produce carbon-neutral concrete.
The team, which consists of material scientists and engineers, has developed an efficient, low-cost process to capture CO2 emissions directly from industrial flues. The process captures and stores all the CO2 through a chemical process, which also yields a cement additive – a silica – that can replace the amount of Portland cement in the concrete mix by up to 40%. The carbon capture associated with producing the silica means the concrete products can be zero carbon.
