Norcem has a 'Zero CO2 emission' strategy. By 2030, our products shall have zero CO2 emission over their lifetime. The plan is that this strong reduction in CO2 emission will be achieved primarily by Carbon Capture at our main cement plant and the current project proposal 'ZeroCarbCon'. The primary objective of this project is to perform R&D that will serve as a basis for development of quality concrete with zero net CO2 emission. This means that the CO2 emission from one unit concrete shall be reduced to a level corresponding to the uptake of CO2 in the unit concrete from later carbonation. The reduced CO2 emission will be obtained by use of less cement and/or Portland clinker in the concrete. Furthermore, the objective is that Zero Carbon emission Concrete (ZCC) shall obtain a market share of at least 40% in Norway three years after the project ends. This project comprises R&D of cement- and concrete materials as well as critical investigations of the R&D results to develop knowledge of ZCC construction technology.

R&D results that allow a substantial reduction in the content of cement and/or Portland clinker per unit concrete is critical. R&D to reduce water demand of the cement noticeably will be performed as this allows a substantial reduction in cement content per unit concrete. The second critical R&D strategy is related to the development of CEM II/C cement products with up to 50% supplementary cementitious materials, which will reduce the CO2 emission per unit cement with about 20% compared with today's cement products. This is a new type of cement recently standardized (NS-EN 197-5). Not much knowledge exist about this type of cement. Several R&D challenges for this type of novel cement product will be addressed in the project. Early-age strength development and durability properties are critical. We will focus on the durability properties we consider are most critical for this cement, such as carbonation and freeze-thaw.

Project funded by the Research Council Norway (RCN). Link to the RCN project page here.