Carbon-neutral concrete wins international architecture award

Aiming to honor outstanding architectural contributions to human development around the world, the Obel Award has announced its 2022 winner: the company Seratech , whose technology – which enables the production of carbon-neutral concrete – was developed by doctoral students at Imperial College London. The technology was considered by the jury as the one that best represents the concept of the award in 2022: CO2-neutral architectural solutions , taking into account all emissions at all stages of an architectural project. The winning team, led by Sam Draper and Barney Shanks , comprised of materials scientists and engineers, developed an efficient and low-cost process to capture CO2 emissions directly from industrial flues. The process captures and stores all of the CO2 through a chemical process that also produces a cement additive called silica that can replace up to 40% of the cement in the concrete mix. The carbon capture associated with the production of silica means that concrete products can be carbon neutral . The raw materials used in Seratech’s process – CO2 waste and a magnesium silicate mineral – are naturally abundant worldwide . Furthermore, the process integrates with existing manufacturing lines and equipment used in concrete production. As such, it is possible to implement it in all cement plants worldwide and does not require major changes in current practices or mindsets.

The OBEL Prize is presented by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation , based in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded by Henrik Frode Obel (1942-2014). Seratech is currently developing a pilot plant design to model the process on a large scale .

How does concrete pollute?

Concrete has been used for millennia to build homes, cities and critical infrastructure. The material has helped improve the lives of billions of people around the world and is essential to continuing to raise living standards in all parts of the world. However, concrete is also responsible for significant CO2 emissions . As things stand now, architecture and the construction industry as a whole cannot function without concrete. This is a dilemma. Addressing the CO2 emissions released in concrete production is therefore a major concern . Once scaled up and implemented, Seratech’s technology has the potential to significantly reduce the overall carbon emissions of the construction industry. Seratech is a limited company, formed by staff and researchers based at Imperial College London. It was incorporated on 7 July 2021 to commercialise research undertaken by its co-founders, Sam Draper and Barney Shanks, in the field of CO2 capture and building materials innovation. The technology has been in development since late 2020.