The construction industry has a bad rap for polluting the environment. As per the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), nearly 40% of all global carbon emissions are ascribed to the buildings segment. In fact, in 2021, concerns grew so much that investments to make it greener increased by 16% to $342.7 billion. 

One company all set to transform the industry is graphene products company First Graphene (ASX: FGR). It plans on doing so with its green cement.

First Graphene has entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) with Aussie hydrous kaolin producer and exploration company Suvo Strategic Minerals (ASX: SUV). Together, they will research and develop low-emission cement and concrete products.

First Graphene Managing Director and CEO, Michael Bell, said, “This JDA marks another step in First Graphene’s pursuit of greener solutions for the construction sector. Building on the success we have already demonstrated and are actively commercialising by developing PureGRAPH® enhanced admixtures and grinding aids to reduce CO2 emissions and improve performance in cement and concrete, the agreement with Suvo provides a potential path to realising even greater improvements.”

And it’s a timely undertaking, too. 

Suvo’s Executive Chairman, Henk Ludik, detailed, “More than 4 billion tonnes of cement are manufactured each year—which equates to enough to build a city the size of New York every 40 days—so there’s a sizeable market and a big emission reduction target to address.”

In cement, the troublemaking element is the binding agent called clinker. It is a key contributor to the industry’s significant carbon footprint, and that’s because of its manufacturing process. Clinker is formed by roasting calcium carbonate materials at extremely high temperatures; CO2 is a major byproduct. Depending on a range of factors, for every tonne of cement manufactured, up to 900kg of CO2 can be produced. Yikes!

To combat that, the two companies will investigate the potential of adding graphene to cement and concrete with Suvo’s metakaolin. Metakaolin is a pozzolanic material (siliceous or aluminium material that reacts with calcium hydroxide to become cement-like). It is derived from fine kaolinite clay (white clay) that can be used as a partial replacement for clinker in cement to deliver strength and performance improvements to concrete and mortar products.

Metakaolin is still subject to thermal treatment; however, its manufacturing process demands much lower temperatures and does not produce any significant CO2 emissions. However, metakaolin-based cement can be subject to degradation in high temperatures. That’s where graphene comes in. As per the Company’s research, graphene-enhanced metakaolin can provide far superior performance under a broader range of conditions.

According to the terms of the agreement, First Graphene will provide R&D services, co-develop a research and development plan to produce graphene-enhanced solutions with Suvo, and focus on scaling up the production. Suvo, on the other hand, will be responsible for testing and validating the graphene-enhanced metakaolin products and providing market data to enable scaling up the production.

Green cement is the need of the hour. After all, as per research company IMARC Group, the global green cement market is estimated to be worth U$56 billion by 2027. With development underway, First Graphene has its sights set on commercialisation.