The term ‘green concrete’ refers to sustainable, low-carbon, or eco-friendly concrete that reduces environmental impact by replacing traditional Portland cement with industrial waste by-products like fly ash, slag, and silica fume. Often incorporating recycled aggregates, it offers similar or better durability while significantly lowering carbon emissions.
Reduced Carbon Footprint: By using supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), green concrete can reduce embodied carbon by 70% or more compared to conventional concrete.
Waste Utilisation: It repurposes coal fly ash, furnace slag from steel manufacturing, and waste glass, turning waste into resources.
Technological Innovations: Researchers at RMIT University are developing concrete that uses up to 80% coal fly ash and nano-additives to improve performance.
Geo-polymer Concrete: Geo-polymer concrete uses inorganic binders to replace cement entirely, reducing carbon emissions by up to 90%.
These innovations are critical for the Australian construction industry to move towards net-zero goals by 2050.
Green Steel is produced without fossil fuels, using green hydrogen, renewable energy, and electric arc furnaces to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from traditional, coal-heavy manufacturing. It replaces carbon-based reducing agents with hydrogen to produce water instead of CO2 during iron ore reduction, aiming for a near-zero carbon emissions process.
Production Methods: Primarily uses Hydrogen Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) in Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) powered by renewable energy.
Environmental Impact: Aims to eliminate the emissions currently produced by the traditional steel industry.
Technological Innovations: Involves using recycled materials, such as turning waste tyres and plastics into energy, in EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) steelmaking.
Challenges: Faces high production costs, the need for immense amounts of green hydrogen, and significant infrastructure investments.
Market Growth: Driven by increasing demand for sustainable materials and strict climate regulations, with cost parity expected in the coming decades.