Public Funding for Castle Cement Limited

This project will improve resource efficiency and symbiosis between UK foundation industries by utilising waste derived clay from the ceramics sector to produce high value innovative cement formulations. It will develop industrial connections and enhance UK supply chains by providing new low carbon resource efficient products for the UK construction industry. In doing so it will help to secure UK jobs and GVA. Clay is a raw material common to three of the UK foundation industries; cement, ceramics and paper. Higher-grade clays such as China clay are extracted for the manufacture of white ceramics and paper. Medium-grade clays are extracted to manufacture ceramics such as bricks and tiles, whereas lower-grade clays are extracted and utilised by the UK cement industry to produce Portland cement clinker. Waste derived clay material is generated during the extraction of higher-grade clays and through production and use of medium-grade clays (waste bricks/brick fines). In this project, waste derived clay from several different sources will be characterised and tested for the properties useful for cement and concrete production. Waste derived clays will be prepared using two different heating methods to enable comparisons of the resulting properties. These methods are a rotary kiln, a commonly available technology and 'flash heating', a new and innovative heating technique not yet trialled in the UK. The prepared material will be expertly formulated into cement compositions which will be tested for conformity to EU/UK standards. Concrete mixes using these clay cements will be developed and optimised with mix enhancing chemical admixtures. Both fresh and hardened properties will be examined to maximise the market potential of the new cements. The information from the testing and pilot work will be presented to the national standards body to modify the national concrete standards to remove a barrier to market for these new cements. Deployment of these new cements on the UK market could reduce waste by 1.4 million tonnes and reduce the embodied CO2 of cement by around 10-30% compared to the market leading CEM I cement.

HyNet is one of the most advanced, low risk and cost-effective full chain hydrogen and CCUS industrial decarbonisation projects in the UK, which can transform the North West of the UK into the world's first low carbon industrial cluster by 2030\. The UK has passed legislation to deliver Net Zero emissions by 2050\. Significant progress has been made in the decarbonisation of power. However, less progress has been made in the decarbonisation of the 'hard to reach' sectors of the economy including industry, heat and heavy transport. The North West is one of the largest and most energy intensive industrial clusters in the UK, encompassing parts of North East Wales, Cheshire, Warrington, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester. It is home to 4 million people and generates annual industrial emissions of 6 million tonnes of CO2\. HyNet was conceived in 2016 with the objective of decarbonising the entire industrial cluster to Net Zero, directly aligning with the Industrial Clusters Mission. While industrial decarbonisation is the anchor, the project builds the infrastructure backbone for a full regional hydrogen economy. HyNet is centred in the industrial complex between Ellesmere Port and Runcorn. Bulk low carbon hydrogen production facilities will be constructed at Stanlow Refinery, providing hydrogen for industrial fuel switching, blending into the local gas network, transport and flexible power generation. A dedicated network will transport hydrogen from production to demand points and hydrogen storage assets in the Cheshire salt fields to enable supply and demand balancing. The HyNet CCUS network will provide the infrastructure to transport and store the CO2 produced as a by-product of the hydrogen production process and specific industrial sources that cannot be mitigated by fuel switching. A number of the UK's largest industrial emitters, including Stanlow Refinery, Ince Fertiliser plant and Padeswood Cement plant located in this cluster, will connect to the CCUS network. HyNet is innovative and unique in that it: * Delivers a full-chain hydrogen project, including production, distribution and storage, to decarbonise industry and to provide an infrastructure for cross-sectoral decarbonisation; * Repurposes existing oil and gas assets in Liverpool Bay for CO2 transport and storage to minimise project cost and risk. Following extensive development to date, the activities to be undertaken in this next stage will allow HyNet to enter a development programme of engineering and consenting activities which will deliver a project ready for the final investment decision.

The EnviroAsh project brings together partners from across the six Foundation Industries \[Glass (Glass Technology Services, Glassworks Services Ltd, Encirc, Glass Futures Ltd), Ceramics (Wienerberger), Steel (British Steel Ltd), Paper (Saica), Cement (Hanson, Breedon), Chemicals (Power Minerals Ltd. - through its Biolite division, which converts an ash-waste into a fertiliser product)\], the Energy sector (Drax) plus key academic partners (Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and the University of Sheffield (UoS) and supply-chain partners experienced in handling and processing wastes and raw materials (PML, LKAB Minerals). The project will identify opportunities to take waste ashes, slags, mineral by-products and filter dusts from across the FIs and convert them into new raw materials for a range of products produced within the glass, ceramic and cement Foundation Industry sectors. In exploring an end-to-end approach this project aims to identify routes to convert waste streams into new raw materials transforming disposal costs into opportunities for income generation by creating lower cost raw materials with potential to reduce environmental impacts of Foundation Industry manufacturing processes. The project will also explore how these new feedstocks might create opportunities to improve product performance in a cost-effective manner. The project will deliver practical lab and commercial-scale demonstrations of how these new waste-derived materials can be incorporated into existing products and processes, establishing a consortium, supply chain and new business models which can be applied to other waste streams within the FI and other energy intensive sectors.