The company announced it is collaborating with researchers at the Energy Safety Research Institute at Swansea University, to look at innovative technologies to reduce industrial carbon emissions.

A new hydrogen demonstration unit, which generates green hydrogen through renewable energy, has been developed and installed at our Regen GGBS plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, as part of the £9.2 MM ERDF funded RICE project.

The aim of the demonstration unit is to replace some of the natural gas used to power the plant with green hydrogen, which is considered a clean source of energy as it only emits water when burned, reducing CO2 emissions.  

Cement production is energy intensive due to the high temperatures required to produce clinker – the main component of Portland cement. Hanson’s Port Talbot plant produces Regen GGBS, which is used as a replacement for up to 80 per cent of the cement in concrete. Although Regen is also an energy intensive product, using large amounts of natural gas and electricity, its carbon footprint is about one tenth of Portland cement. 

The unit produces hydrogen through the process of electrolysis, where renewable energy is generated through wind and solar on site and directed into the electrolyzer or water splitting device. The electrolyzer can efficiently use this energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen is then passed into the burner to enrich the combustion mixture, saving carbon emissions from the burning of natural gas.  

"It is estimated that cement is the source of just under 1.5% of UK CO2 emissions,” said Marian Garfield, head of sustainability at Hanson UK. “With demand for cement and cement replacement products predicted to increase by a quarter by 2030, researchers and industry are working hard to reduce the level of carbon emissions associated with production."