Victorian Sustainability Conference

1. Victorian Sustainability Conference Earthship Brighton (UK) – The first building utilising TecEco eco-cements I will have to race over some slides but the presentation is always downloadable from the TecEco web site if you missed something. John Harrison B.Sc. B.Ec. FCPA.

2. The Problem – A Planet in Crisis TecEco are in the BIGGEST Business on the Planet - Solving Sustainability Problems Economically

3. Demographic Explosion? ? Undeveloped Countries Developed Countries Global population, consumption per capita and our footprint on the planet is exploding.

4. Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

5. Global Temperature Anomaly

6. Ecological Footprint Our footprint is exceeding the capacity of the planet to support it. We are not longer sustainable as a species and must change our ways

7. Ecological Footprint

8. Victoria Before Settlement

9. Victoria Now Paper Mill - Soda liquor + Cl Farming - Pesticide, N & K Forestry - Cover removal Vehicles - carbon dioxide Cows - methane Immediate and polluted run-off.Pollution.Carbon dioxide and other gases.Sewerage. Huge linkages

10. Victoria with a Little Lateral Thinking & Effort Less paper. Other Cl free processes - no salinity Cows – CSIO anti methane bred Organic farming Carbon returned to soils. Use of zeolite reduces water and fertilizer required by 2/3 TecEco technology provides ways ofsequestering carbon dioxide and utilising wastes to create our techno - world Evolution away from using trees – paperless office Vehicles – more efficient and using fuel cells Porous pavement prevents immediate and polluted run-off. Carbon dioxide and other gases absorbed by TecEco eco-cements. Sewerage converted to fertilizer and returned to soils. Buildings generate own energy etc.

11. Innovative New Materials Vital C C Eco-cement example MgCO3 → MgO + ↓CO2 - Efficient low temperature calcination & capture MgO + ↓CO2 + H2O → MgCO3.3H2O - Sequestration as building material C Δ C C C C • We need to think at the supply and waste end when we design building materials – not just about the materials utility phase in the middle • Making the built environment not only a repository for recyclable resources (referred to as waste) but a huge carbon sink is an alternative and adjunct that is politically viable as it potentially results in economic benefits. • Concrete, a cementitous composite, is the single biggest material flow on the planet with over 2 tonnes per person produced and a good place to start. • By including carbon, materialsare potentially carbon sinks. • By including wastes many problems at the waste end are solved.

12. TecEco & Integrated Processes • Silicate → Carbonate Mineral Sequestration • Using either peridotite, forsterite or serpentine as inputs to a silicate reactor process CO2 is sequestered and magnesite produced. • Proven by others (NETL,MIT,TNO, Finnish govt. etc.) • Tec-Kiln Technology • Combined calcining and grinding in a closed system allowing the capture of CO2. Powered by waste heat, solar or solar derived energy. • To be proved but simple and should work! • Direct Scrubbing of CO2 using MgO • Being proven by others (NETL,MIT,TNO, Finnish govt. etc.) • Eco-Cement Concretes in the Built Environment. • TecEco eco-cements set by absorbing CO2 and are as good as proven. TecEco EconomicunderKyoto? TecEco

13. The TecEco Total Process Serpentine Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 Olivine Mg2SiO4 Crushing Crushing Grinding CO2 from Power Generation or Industry Grinding Waste Sulfuric Acid or Alkali? Screening Screening Magnetic Sep. Silicate Reactor Process Iron Ore. Gravity Concentration Heat Treatment Silicic Acids or Silica Magnesite (MgCO3) Simplified TecEco ReactionsTec-Kiln MgCO3 → MgO + CO2 - 118 kJ/moleReactor Process MgO + CO2 → MgCO3 + 118 kJ/mole (usually more complex hydrates) Solar or Wind Electricity Powered Tec-Kiln CO2 for Geological Sequestration Magnesium Thermodynamic Cycle Magnesite MgCO3) Magnesia (MgO) Other Wastes after Processing Oxide Reactor Process CO2 from Power Generation, Industry or CO2 Directly From the Air MgO for TecEco Cements and Sequestration by Eco-Cements in the Built Environment

14. Why Mangesium Compounds • Because magnesium has a low molecular weight, proportionally a much greater amount of CO2 is released or captured. • This, together with the high proportion of water in the binder is what makes construction the built environment out of CO2 and water so exciting. • Imagine the possibilities if CO2 could be captured during the manufacture of eco-cement!

15. TecEco Kiln Technology • Grinds and calcines at the same time. • Runs 25% to 30% more efficiency. • Can be powered by solar energy or waste heat. • Brings mineral sequestration and geological sequestration together • Captures CO2 for bottling and sale to the oil industry (geological sequestration). • The products – CaO &/or MgO can be used to sequester more CO2 and then be re-calcined. This cycle can then be repeated. • Suitable for making reactive reactive MgO.

16. A Post – Carbon Age We all use carbon and wastes to make our homes!

17. TecEco Cements SUSTAINABILITY PORTLAND POZZOLAN Hydration of the various components of Portland cement for strength. Reaction of alkali with pozzolans (e.g. lime with fly ash.) for sustainability, durability and strength. TECECO CEMENTS DURABILITY STRENGTH MAGNESIA Hydration of magnesia => brucite fo strength, workability, dimensional stability and durability. In Eco-cements carbonation of brucite => nesquehonite, lansfordite and an amorphous phase for sustainability. TecEco concretes are a system of blending reactive magnesia, Portland cement and usually a pozzolan with other materials and are a key factor for sustainability.

18. Eco-Cement compared to Carbonating Lime Mortar. • The underlying chemistry is very similar however eco-cements are potentially superior to lime mortars because: • The calcination phase of the magnesium thermodynamic cycle takes place at a much lower temperature • Magnesium minerals are generally more fibrous and acicular than calcium minerals and hence a lot stronger. • Water forms part of the binder minerals that forming making the cement component go further. • Magnesium hydroxide in particular and to some extent the carbonates are less reactive and mobile and thus much more durable. • A less reactive environment with a lower long term pH. (around 10.5 instead of 12.35) • Because magnesium has a low molecular weight, proportionally a much greater amount of CO2 is captured. • Carbonation in the built environment would result in significant sequestration because of the shear volumes involved. • Carbonation adds considerable strength and some steel reinforced structural concrete could be replaced with fibre reinforced porous carbonated concrete.

19. There are huge volumes of concrete produced annually ( 2 tonnes per person per year ) The goal should be to make cementitious composites that can utilise wastes. TecEco cements provide a benign environment suitable for waste immobilisation Many wastes such as fly ash, sawdust , shredded plastics etc. can improve a property or properties of the cementitious composite. TecEco Binders - Solving Waste Problems There are huge materials flows in both wastes and building and construction. TecEco technology will lead the world in the race to incorporate wastes in cementitous composites

20. TecEco cementitious composites represent a cost affective option for both use and immobilisation of waste. Lower reactivity (less water, lower pH). Reduced solubility of heavy metals (lower pH). Greater durability. Dense. Impermeable (tec-cements). Homogenous. No bleed water. Are not attacked by salts in ground or sea water. Are dimensionally more stable with less cracking. TecEco Binders - Solving Waste Problems (2) TecEco Technology Converting Waste to Resource

21. Lower Solubility of Metal Hydroxides There is a 104 difference

22. Change • “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change (Darwin, C., 1859).” • Drivers for Change: • The necessity of converting waste to resources • The demand for sustainability • The introduction of robotics into construction. • Improved materials. • More economic materials

23. Drivers

24. The Solution must be Economic. • With record energy prices the argument of Hawken and Lovins in the book Natural Capitalism that sustainability makes good business sense has never been more vindicated • Moves towards ensuring a sustainable future by changing the materials we use have to be more economic than not changing them. • Otherwise, given human nature, they will not happen

25. Economically Driven Sustainability The challenge is to harness human behaviours which underlay economic supply and demand phenomena by changing the technical paradigm in favour of making carbon dioxide and other wastes resources. ECONOMICS Sustainable processes are more efficient and therefore more economic. What is needed are sustainable process that also deliver sustainable materials and innovation will deliver these new technical paradigms.

26. Cultural Change and Paradigm Shifts in Technology Increase in demand/price ratio for sustainability due to educationally induced cultural drift. $ Supply Greater Value/for impact (Sustainability) Equilibrium shift ECONOMICS Demand Increase in supply/price ratio for more sustainable products due to innovative changes in the technical paradigm. #

27. To Make Carbon and Wastes Resources the Key is To Change the Technology Paradigm • “By enabling us to make productive use of particular raw materials, technology determines what constitutes a physical resource1” • Pilzer, Paul Zane, Unlimited Wealth, The Theory and Practice of Economic Alchemy, Crown Publishers Inc. New York.1990 Changing the technical paradigm will affect the supply of and demand for more sustainable materials

28. Materials – The Key to Sustainability

29. A Killer Application for Waste? • Wastes • Utilizing wastes based on their chemical composition involves energy consuming transport. • Wastes could be utilized as resources depending on their class of properties rather than chemical composition. • in vast quantities based on broadly defined properties such as light weight, tensile strength, insulating capacity, strength or thermal capacity in composites. • Many wastes contain carbon and if utilized would result in net carbon sinks. • TecEco binders enable many wastes to be converted to resources. Two examples: • Plastics • Sawdust and wood waste

30. Sustainability Summary • A more holistic approach is to reduce energy consumption as well as sequester carbon. • To reduce our linkages with the environment we must convert waste to resource (recycle). • Sequestration and recycling have to be economic processes or they have no hope of success. • We cannot stop progress, but we can change and historically economies thrive on change. • What can be changed is the technical paradigm. CO2 and wastes need to be redefined as resources. • New and better materials are required that utilize wastes including CO2 to create a wide range of materials suitable for use in our built environment.

31. Policy Summary • Governments cannot easily legislate for sustainability, it is more important that ways are found to make sustainability good business. • “Feel good” legislation does not work. • Deposit Legislation works but is difficult to implement successfully. • Carbon rationing would be difficult to achieve globally. • Need to underpin Kyoto with a real price for carbon. • It is therefore important for governments to make efforts to understand new technical paradigms that will change the techno-process so it delivers sustainable outcomes

32. The Largest Material Flow - Cement and Concrete • Concrete made with cement is the most widely used material on Earth accounting for some 30% of all materials flows on the planet and 60 - 70% of all materials flows in the built environment. • Global Portland cement production is in the order of 2 billion tonnes per annum. • Globally over 14 billion tonnes of concrete are poured per year. • That’s over 2 tonnes per person per annum TecEco Pty. Ltd. have benchmark technologies for improvement in sustainability and properties

33. Embodied Energy of Building Materials Concrete is relatively environmentally friendly and has a relatively low embodied energy Downloaded from www.dbce.csiro.au/ind-serv/brochures/embodied/embodied.htm (last accessed 07 March 2000)

34. Cement Production = Carbon Dioxide Emissions

35. Emissions from Cement Production • Portland cement used in construction is made from carbonate. • The process of calcination involves driving off chemically bound CO2 with heat. CaCO3 →CaO + ↑CO2 ∆ • Heating also requires energy. • 94% of energy is still derived from fossil fuels. • Fuel oil, coal and natural gas are directly or indirectly burned to produce the energy required releasing CO2. • The production of cement for concretes accounts for around 10%(1) of global anthropogenic CO2. (1) Pearce, F., "The Concrete Jungle Overheats", New Scientist, 19 July, No 2097, 1997 (page 14).

36. Average Embodied Energy in Buildings Most of the embodied energy in the built environment is in concrete. But because so much is used there is a huge opportunity for sustainability by reducing the embodied energy, reducing the carbon debt (net emissions) and improving properties. Downloaded from www.dbce.csiro.au/ind-serv/brochures/embodied/embodied.htm (last accessed 07 March 2000)

37. Landfill – The Visible Legacy of Not Recycling Landfill is the technical term for filling large holes in the ground with waste. Landfills release methane, can cause ill health in the area, lead to the contamination of land, underground water, streams and coastal waters and give rise to various nuisances including increased traffic, noise, odours, smoke, dust, litter and pests.

38. An important objective should be to make cementitious composites that can utilise wastes. TecEco cements provide a benign environment suitable for waste immobilisation. Many wastes such as fly ash, sawdust , shredded plastics etc. can improve a property or properties of the cementitious composite. TecEco Binders - Utilising Wastes There are huge materials flows in both wastes and building and construction. TecEco technology leads the world in the race to incorporate wastes in cementitous composites

39. The Impact of TecEco Technology • TecEco magnesian cement technology will be pivotal in bringing about sustainability in the built environment. • Tec-Cements Develop Significant Early Strength even with Added Supplementary Materials. Around 25 = 30% less binder is required for the same strength. • Eco-cements carbonate sequestering CO2 • Both tec and eco=cements provide a benign low pH environment for hosting large quantities of waste • The CO2 released by calcined carbonates used to make binders can be captured using TecEco kiln technology.

40. TecEco Challenging the World • The TecEco technology is new and not yet fully characterised. • TecEco cement technology offers • a new tool • sustainability in the built environment not previously considered possible. • The world desperately needs a way of sequestering large volumes of CO2 such as made possible by eco-cements. • Formula rather than performance based standards are preventing the development of new and better materials based on mineral binders. • TecEco challenge universities governments and construction authorities to quantify performance in comparison to ordinary Portland cement and other competing materials. • We at TecEco will do our best to assist. • Negotiations are underway in many countries to organise supplies to allow such scientific endeavour to proceed.