U.S. Department of Energy plans a Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence to reduce industrial emissions.

In its continued mission to help the U.S. reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) is creating a Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence to accelerate the development and adoption of novel low-carbon cement and concrete technologies.

Up to $9 million for national labs to develop and lead the center will support collaboration across academia, national labs, government agencies, and private corporations to advance low-carbon cement and concrete technologies and boost the industry's economic competitiveness.

Cement and concrete are the world's most heavily utilized manmade materials, increasingly so as urbanization spreads worldwide. Vital for housing, construction, and critical infrastructure, these ubiquitous materials are key inputs to the U.S. economy, and demand is expected to double by 2050.

The concrete industry is responsible for 2% of energy-related CO2 emissions in the U.S. Its value chain, coupled with heavy use of high heat to produce cement, makes it difficult to decarbonize.

The production of concrete has a complex emissions profile that begins in the quarry and doesn't end until after the concrete is poured.

"Developing low-carbon cement and concrete materials along with the codes and standards for safe adoption will require feedback, evaluation, and dialogue across the full ecosystem of experts involved at each step of the production process," IEDO noted. "The center will be uniquely positioned to bring together researchers, engineers, code and standards developers, and other key stakeholders across the full value chain to model and evaluate new technologies and move them from the lab toward market-ready adoption."

H2: The plan

Through offices like IEDO, the Office of Technology Transitions, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, DOE is investing in innovation and accelerating the commercialization, market demonstration, and demand-side adoption of the resultant technologies.

"Together, the offices anticipate announcing additional opportunities for the national labs and its partners to support DOE's inception-to-adoption efforts, beginning with initiatives to commercialize mature, low-carbon technologies," IEDO penned in its announcement.

The center will address the following priorities:

• Test method development: New or improved tools and techniques tailored for new binder chemistries to be used in concrete applications. These methods should address phase formation and carbon uptake evaluation. A correlation between chemistry and durability is expected.

• Modeling: Methods to predict performances using data-driven tools. Modeling should consider predictions about ideal binder formulations to achieve performance. Attention to durability under a range of environmental conditions should be considered as well.

• Data collection and monitoring: Non-destructive characterization tools and techniques for in situ or field monitoring of concrete applications. The objective is to allow data acquisition from a concrete element that could be in service. The use of next-generation sensors and instrumentation, including non-destructive techniques, is encouraged.

• Carbon accounting: Methodologies for calculating and reporting emissions in selected applications and comparing them to a designated baseline. The data obtained via in-house testing or provided by industrial partners will be analyzed and used for lifecycle analysis and the support of environmental product declarations.

"The center will also de-risk new decarbonization technologies for first movers by developing tools to predict material performance in different service environments," according to IEDO. "The center will expand the use of these new solutions, facilitate data acquisition in a live environment, and promote practical applications that reduce cost and increase sustainability."

DOE national laboratories, plants, and sites are all eligible to receive funding for this upcoming lab call. National laboratories are encouraged to leverage existing infrastructure and collaborate with universities and industry. Proposals should notably allocate resources to address commercialization.

The IEDO recommends subscribing to stay tuned for the lab call.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/iedo/articles/us-department-energy-announces-plans-create-low-carbon-cement-and-concrete?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery