A consortium has secured a funding commitment to validate a low-carbon cement project in Ireland.
Cairn, UCD, Kilsaran and Ecocem received €50,000 in funding from Construct Innovate, Ireland’s national Construction Technology Centre, for the trial, which the consortium hopes will support reducing carbon emissions in Ireland’s construction sector.
“This project represents an exciting time in the Irish construction industry,” Kilsaran associate director Keith Goodwin said.
“While there are a variety of low-carbon concrete technologies in various stages of development, the introduction of ACT technology on the ground in Ireland in the short term is a significant progression towards the carbon reduction goals of the sector.”
Ecocem’s ACT technology is the cornerstone of the trial with a full-scale demonstration of the technology to take place alongside an independent technical assessment at UCD. The trial will involve an “ultra-low carbon binder”.
“Low carbon, scalable cement replacements are a vital piece of the decarbonisation journey that every stakeholder involved in the built environment must embark on, and embrace,” Cair senior technical manager Thomas Lowry said.
“This research further strengthens our pipeline of carbon reduction initiatives under review – initiatives that are essential for us to meet our Sustainability goals to 2030 and beyond.”
Ecocem has developed the ACT technology through more than a decade of research and so far, it has demonstrated CO₂ emission reductions of up to 70 per cent compared to traditional cement. Ecocem is currently undertaking the construction of its first production line for ACT at its €50 million facility in Dunkirk, France. The production line is expected to be operational by the end of this year, with a broader €220 million investment plan underway to expand the company’s low-carbon cement production by 2030.
ACT has the potential to be a true game changer for the Irish construction market; delivering up to 70 per cent lower CO₂ emissions compared to traditional cement, without compromising on performance or cost.
“Having already been successfully deployed in markets such as the UK and France, we are delighted to bring this innovation to Ireland and to see it independently validated in a real-world setting,” Ecocem director of concrete technology deployment John Reddy said.
“This milestone reinforces our confidence in ACT as a scalable solution to support a rapid and cost-effective transition to low-carbon construction.”
