Brick disruptors tackle climate impacts

摘要

Brick is one of the oldest known man-made materials and remains the prevalent form of construction in the UK, with some 2.6 billion units produced in 2019 alone. But our hunger for this durable, tactile and often beautiful product, consumes a huge amounts of energy, releasing greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. Firing clay bricks to over 1000℃ in fossil fuel-powered kilns is energy-intensive. A finite natural resource, clays have to be mined and shipped around the globe and they generate difficult to abate process emissions. The brick making industry is taking steps to address its impact on the environment. A decarbonisation and energy efficiency roadmap has funded projects designed to cut energy consumption and emissions, and future plans include an investment in efficiency and renewables. For example, Forterra's new Desford plant uses low-carbon fuels like hydrogen (as Michelmersh is doing with its HyBrick) and electric-firing. In 2022 the Brick Development Association reported a reduction of 8kg CO_2e/m~2 since 2015, with the industry average for clay bricks of 26 kg CO_2e/m~2, as against 27.3 kg CO_2e/m~2 for the average traditional clay-fired brick (EPD 2019-2024 Brick Development Association).