A foundation for change: using clay to lower cement emissions in construction

Dr Miao Li, a senior lecturer in the School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering, is part of a world-leading research team that has identified a way to significantly reduce the use of cement in peat stabilisation. Cement is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Its production is a highly energy-intensive process and, on average, the manufacture of one tonne of cement emits 0.87 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Using cement to stabilise peat and soft soil foundations is a traditional engineering practice, but the research team were determined to find a more sustainable approach. They discovered that using clay as a partial replacement for cement was feasible and reduced cement content by more than 40 per cent. Dr Li and her colleagues are exploring other innovative ways to work with clay in other applications. The next stage of research is to work with several soils that are problematic for engineering, including collapsible, expansive and liquefiable soils