As the world moves towards zero emissions, decarbonising cement is often described as the most difficult challenge. Portland Cement, which is used to make concrete and mortar, is made in tremendous volumes (more than 500 kg per person per year for everyone on the planet), is cheap (~£60/tonne) and has excellent properties for construction. However, it causes a quarter of all the world's industrial emissions, both due to fuel combustion in high-temperature cement kilns, and because the chemistry of converting limestone into clinker, the key ingredient of cement, inevitably causes the release of carbon dioxide. Many alternative compositions of cement are under development, but although some may lead to reduced emissions, none have zero emissions. Two possible approaches to capturing and storing emissions are under development - one capturing all the emissions of a plant and storing them underground, and the other embedding emissions within pre-cast blocks - but neither is yet operating at scale, and both face many challenges. Without cement, we will have no concrete, and construction will have to change radically largely shifting from new-build to retrofit and adaption. Countries responsible for around 70% of the world's GDP have now committed to zero emissions targets by 2050 or 2060, so the problem of cement emissions is both large and urgent. This proposal explores the world's first process that could produce Portland cement with no emissions. The investigators noticed that the lime-flux used in today's electric steel-recycling furnaces has almost the same chemical composition as that of old cement paste - the material that is left when old concrete is crushed, and sand and aggregate is removed. In preliminary trials, using the small electric arc furnace of the Material Processing Institute, we replaced the conventional flux with used cement. We separated the hot liquid slag that floats on the surface of molten steel during recycling and cooled it to form a powder which we then mixed with gypsum and cast into small cement samples. Analysis of our tiny pilot study cement samples showed that they were very similar to conventional Portland cement. This points to the exciting possibility that we could make cement as a by-product of steel recycling, which could be powered by non-emitting electricity - therefore giving us both zero emissions steel and zero emissions cement. This proposal aims to explore the science around this discovery. We need to find out how the composition of old cement varies, and how this variation affects our new product. We need to explore what effect our new process has on conventional steel recycling - does it change the composition of the steel, does it damage the furnace lining, and how does the type of steel being recycled affect our new cement? And we need to find out more about the properties of our new cement: how durable is it, how quickly does it reach full strength, and so on. If this new process is as good as we hope, we will want to develop it rapidly to commercial scale, and the technique for making it could become a major UK export. The final component of our proposal is therefore to develop a "roadmap" for taking the idea from lab-scale trials to full deployment. We will explore this question with a consortium of partners, a science advisory panel, and with outward facing partners who could help us champion the new approach.

This project will demonstrate how one of the largest industries in the UK can utilise a digital platform to harness the benefits of a sustainable circular supply chain, so as to reduce waste, increase safety, and promote greater fiscal responsibility. The Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) sector plays a crucial role in the UK economy by employing over 2 million people to deliver civil engineering projects that underpin our economic growth. One of the biggest contributors to GDP, the ACE sector represents commercial activity spanning individual contractors through to multi-national corporations collaborating through complex asset distribution networks that account for over £10 billion of trade. This network of activity consumes millions of tonnes of materials and produces more waste than all other industries combined, partly due to an inability to maintain an industry wide knowledge of material usage. Reclamation accounts for a fraction of industry activity due to intensive manual costs and is only economically viable for high cost, often historically valuable, materials. A key challenge therefore is a need to not only reclaim, but to track all material/asset usage throughout their lifecycles. Our approach is to build a digital platform and assess the associated business models within which the built environment can provide the tracing of materials without evasive building inspections for recall and resume activity. The main outcomes of the research will be: 1. A digital (software) platform that harnesses the potential of multi-layered blockchains, to balance local autonomy of transaction recording/management, whilst maintaining a consistent provenance trail of recorded activity within each stage of the AEC lifecycle. 2. The concept and implementation of a 'material & service passport' to show the circularity potential of materials/ components/ assets/ services and enable stakeholders (e.g. designers, main contractors, manufacturers and clients) to assess the likelihood for circularity. 3. A road map based on the co-developed (with industry) digital platform and circular supply chain models, to incentivise collective supply chain behaviours towards circular economy and environmental sustainability.

Hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels (HALF) have an essential role in the net-zero transition by providing connectivity and flexibility across the energy system. Despite advancements in the field of hydrogen research both in the physical sciences and engineering, significant barriers remain to the scalable adoption of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuel technologies, and energy services, into the UK's local and national whole system infrastructure. These are technical barriers, organisational barriers, regulatory and societal barriers, and financial barriers. There are, therefore, significant gaps between current levels of hydrogen production, transportation, storage, conversion, and usage, and the estimated requirement for achieving net-zero by 2050. To address this, our proposed research programme has four interlinked work packages. WP1 will develop forward-thinking HALF technology roadmaps. We will assess supply chain availability and security. Selected representative HALF use cases will be used to identify and quantify any opportunities, risks and dependencies within a whole systems analysis. We will also develop an overarching roadmap for HALF system integration in order to inform technology advancement, industry and business development, as well as policy making and social interventions. WP2 will improve HALF characterisation and explore urgent new perspectives on the energy transition, including those related to ensuring resilience and security while also achieving net-zero. We will contrast the energy transition delivered by real incentives/behaviour versus those projected by widely-used optimisation models. The WP provides the whole systems modelling engine of the HI-ACT Hub, with a diverse array of state-of-the-art tools to explore HALF integration. WP 3 will explore the vital coupling of data and information relating to whole system planning and operational decision support, through the creation of a cyber physical architecture (CPA). This will generate new learning on current and future opportunities and risks, from a data and information perspective, which will lead to a whole system ontology for accelerated integration of hydrogen technologies. WP 4 considers options for a future energy system with HALF from a number of perspectives. The first is to consider expert views on HALF energy futures, and the public perceptions of those views. The second perspective considers place-based options for social benefit in HALF energy futures. The third perspective is to consider regulatory and policy options which would better enable HALF futures. Embedded across the research programme is the intent to create robust tools which are investment-oriented in their analysis. A Whole Systems and Energy Systems Integration approach is needed here, in order to better understand the interconnected and interdependent nature of complex energy systems from a technical, social, environmental and economic perspective. The Hub is led by Prof Sara Walker, Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration, supported by a team of 16 academics at a range of career stages. The team have extensive experience of large energy research projects and strong networks of stakeholders across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They bring to the Hub major hydrogen demonstrators through support from partners involved in InTEGReL in Gateshead, ReFLEX in Orkney, and FLEXIS Demonstration in South Wales for example. We shall engage to create a vibrant, diverse, and open community that has a deeper understanding of whole systems approaches and the role of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels within that. We shall do so in a way which embeds Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the approach. We shall do so in a way which is a hybrid of virtual and in-person field work consultation and develop appropriate digital tools for engagement.

SUSTAIN is an ambitious collaborative research project led by the National Steel Innovation Centre at Swansea University to transform the productivity, product diversity and environmental performance of the steel supply chain in the UK. Working with Warwick Manufacturing Group and the University of Sheffield, the SUSTAIN Manufacturing Hub will lead grand challenge research projects of carbon neutral steel and ironmaking and smart steel processing. Carbon neutral steel making will explore how we can transition the industry from using coal as its primary energy source to a mix of waste materials, renewable energy and hydrogen. Smart steel processing will examine how digital technology and sensors can be used to increase productivity and also explore how a transformation in the way in which steel is processed can add significant value and create new markets, in particular construction, whilst expanding the opportunities afforded by advanced steel products in the electrification of vehicular transport. The UK steel businesses cover different market sectors and are all engaged in this project committing >£13M in supporting funds. Tata Steel lead work on strip steel products used in automotive (inc electrical steels for generators and motors construction) and packaging applications. British Steel produce long products for key sectors such as rail transport and construction. Liberty Specialty produce unique steels for sectors such as aerospace and nuclear power, Sheffield Forgemasters manufacture products for power generation, defence and civil nuclear industries, and Celsa make section steels and reinforcement primarily for construction. This represents a key element of advanced materials that underpin a large proportion of the UK manufacturing sector. The increasing diversity and lower carbon intensity of UK made steel products together with greater productivity and efficiency will thus benefit the whole of UK manufacturing and create opportunities for manufacturing to make inroads into traditional areas for example by driving offsite manufactured construction alternatives to traditional low skill labour intensive routes. Steel is the world's most used and recyclable advanced material and this project aims to transform the way it is made. This includes approaches both to use and re-use it and harness opportunities to turn any waste product into a value added element for another industry. To illustrate, a steel plant produces enough waste heat to power around 300,000 homes. New materials can trap this heat allowing it to be transported to homes and offices and be used when required without the need for pipes. This then makes the manufacturing site an embedded component of the community and is clearly a model applicable to any other high energy manufacturing operation in other sectors. We will at each stage explore how our discoveries in transforming steel can be mapped onto other key foundation materials sectors such as glass, petrochemicals and cement. Implementation of the research findings will be facilitated via SUSTAIN's network of innovation spokes ensuring that high quality research translates to highly profitable and competitive processes.

Hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels (HALF) have an essential role in the net-zero transition by providing connectivity and flexibility across the energy system. Despite advancements in the field of hydrogen research both in the physical sciences and engineering, significant barriers remain to the scalable adoption of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuel technologies, and energy services, into the UK's local and national whole system infrastructure. These are technical barriers, organisational barriers, regulatory and societal barriers, and financial barriers. There are, therefore, significant gaps between current levels of hydrogen production, transportation, storage, conversion, and usage, and the estimated requirement for achieving net-zero by 2050. To address this, our proposed research programme has four interlinked work packages. WP1 will develop forward-thinking HALF technology roadmaps. We will assess supply chain availability and security. Selected representative HALF use cases will be used to identify and quantify any opportunities, risks and dependencies within a whole systems analysis. We will also develop an overarching roadmap for HALF system integration in order to inform technology advancement, industry and business development, as well as policy making and social interventions. WP2 will improve HALF characterisation and explore urgent new perspectives on the energy transition, including those related to ensuring resilience and security while also achieving net-zero. We will contrast the energy transition delivered by real incentives/behaviour versus those projected by widely-used optimisation models. The WP provides the whole systems modelling engine of the HI-ACT Hub, with a diverse array of state-of-the-art tools to explore HALF integration. WP 3 will explore the vital coupling of data and information relating to whole system planning and operational decision support, through the creation of a cyber physical architecture (CPA). This will generate new learning on current and future opportunities and risks, from a data and information perspective, which will lead to a whole system ontology for accelerated integration of hydrogen technologies. WP 4 considers options for a future energy system with HALF from a number of perspectives. The first is to consider expert views on HALF energy futures, and the public perceptions of those views. The second perspective considers place-based options for social benefit in HALF energy futures. The third perspective is to consider regulatory and policy options which would better enable HALF futures. Embedded across the research programme is the intent to create robust tools which are investment-oriented in their analysis. A Whole Systems and Energy Systems Integration approach is needed here, in order to better understand the interconnected and interdependent nature of complex energy systems from a technical, social, environmental and economic perspective. The Hub is led by Prof Sara Walker, Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration, supported by a team of 16 academics at a range of career stages. The team have extensive experience of large energy research projects and strong networks of stakeholders across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They bring to the Hub major hydrogen demonstrators through support from partners involved in InTEGReL in Gateshead, ReFLEX in Orkney, and FLEXIS Demonstration in South Wales for example. We shall engage to create a vibrant, diverse, and open community that has a deeper understanding of whole systems approaches and the role of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels within that. We shall do so in a way which embeds Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the approach. We shall do so in a way which is a hybrid of virtual and in-person field work consultation and develop appropriate digital tools for engagement.