Support for the project from Roger Bullivant includes a proposal for establishment of a Concretene pilot manufacturing plant at its headquarters in the United Kingdom. This pilot manufacturing plant should enable NERD to prove the viability of its manufacturing proposition towards much wider scale-up and roll-out to the United Kingdom and international concrete industry.
Black Swan estimates that the initial pilot production level would already necessitate approximately half of its graphene production capacity from its facility in Consett, United Kingdom, and would rapidly grow to much higher levels if the commercial roll-out evolves successfully.
David Clement, Roger Bullivant Managing Director, commented: "Our precast foundation systems, manufactured using low-carbon concrete are an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods. As part of Soletanche Bachy and VINCI, we have an ambitious target to reduce our concrete and cement-related CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030. This exciting R&D initiative in partnership with Concretene is the next step in our carbon reduction journey and is a critical element of our sustainability strategy."
Mike Harrison, Chief Operating Officer of NERD, commented: "This is another significant step on our journey to commercialisation of our product and we are delighted to be working with the team at Roger Bullivant."
Simon Marcotte, President and Chief Executive Officer of Black Swan, commented: "Due to the size of this promising market, utilizing graphene in concrete has long been regarded as the holy grail of graphene applications. However, very few have been successful at mastering this intricate process. We are extremely excited to have NERD as a partner which has, time and time again, demonstrated the functionality, effectiveness and desirability of its concrete admixture."
Funding for the pre-cast project, worth £1.21m and starting immediately, is provided by Innovate UK under its SMART grant, which supports SMEs and industrial partners in developing disruptive innovations with potential for rapid economic return to the United Kingdom.
In March 2023, Black Swan, NERD and ARUP Group announced strategic partnerships, part of an integrated supply chain, to accelerate the adoption of graphene-enhanced concrete globally. Black Swan and NERD also formalized an equity swap and a supply agreement. See press release dated March 27, 2023.
Concretene Admixture
The construction industry faces an urgent problem regarding its carbon footprint, with concrete accounting for more than 7% of all global CO2 emissions, principally from energy cost in the manufacture of cement. Legislation to decarbonise the industry is already driving decision-making on planning and budgets and with existing cement replacement technologies becoming increasingly unsustainable, a new solution is required to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.
Developed by NERD in partnership with The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), Concretene is a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete, engineered to improve performance and sustainability.
The technology improves the microstructure of concrete, significantly increasing compressive, tensile and flexural strength, reducing curing periods, microcracking and permeability. Our aim is for a 30% improvement in concrete performance, dependent on application, and proportionally decreased embodied carbon on construction projects.
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