PROJECT. COLLABORATION. INNOVATION.

This project will investigate the availability of suitable cement-replacement materials in Ireland. These new Supplemental CementitiousMaterials (SCMs) will reduce the clinker factor in cement-based construction materials with a substantial reduction of embodied carbon.

In 2023, the government Cement and Concrete Decarbonisation Working Group recommend an urgent need to explore and developalternative cement materials to enable low carbon concrete mixes in the medium to long term. Ireland currently relies on GGBS forlow carbon concrete which is a finite resource and will become increasingly scarce.

There are three parts to the project:

• Review potential SCMs resources and mapping the volume and availability on an all-island basis.
• Undertake a small-scale laboratory study to observe how the SCMs perform during hydration and within Thermodynamic models will use this data to predict the behaviour of the new cements over time and within harsh environments.
• Develop a high-level road map for further research and route to approval for these SCMs.

Collaboration with the industry partners will foster innovation to produce a new economically viable and scalable material for effective decarbonisation and position the Irish cement sector for value added exports and increased

competitiveness.