Concrete nanotechnology business Concretene has signed a development deal with a major manufacturer as it moves toward commercialising its carbon-cutting tech.
Manchester-based Concretene has come to an agreement with piling and pre-cast concrete manufacturer Roger Bullivant to supply its graphene-enhanced admixture that reduces embodied carbon in concrete.
The company has secured £1.2m in Government backing for a project further testing the technology - and if successful, then commercial deliveries could start in late 2024.
Concretene’s technology is designed to improve concrete’s strength and durability meaning that the amount of cement can be reduced while delivering equivalent or better performance. The company says cement is responsible for more than 85% of emissions from concrete
The technology has showed promise in concrete mixes for standard precast applications. The £1.2m funding for that pre-cast project is provided by Innovate UK under its SMART grant, which supports SMEs and industrial partners to develop potentially disruptive technologies.
Concretene has secured more than £2.4m in Government funding this year, with three awards announced in October.
Roger Bullivant is proposing to set up a pilot manufacturing plant for Concretene at its headquarters in south Derbyshire, which could ultimately help the wider rollout of the technology.
David Clement, managing director of Roger Bullivant, said: “Our precast foundation systems, manufactured using low-carbon concrete are an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods.
"As part of Soletanche Bachy and VINCI, we have an ambitious target to reduce our concrete and cement-related CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030. We also have an in-house expertise in low-carbon concrete under the EXEGY label. This exciting R&D initiative in partnership with Concretene is the next step in our carbon-reduction journey and is a critical element of our sustainability strategy.”
Mike Harrison, chief operating officer of Concretene, said: “This is another significant step on our journey to commercialisation of our product and we are delighted to be working with the team at Roger Bullivant.
“Concretene has an important role to play in helping the construction industry meet challenging net-zero targets and the establishment of pilot manufacturing will be vital as we scale our operation.”
