Rio Tinto has completed an industrial trial with Prysmian to produce low‑carbon aluminium rod for power cables, blending metal from its hydro-powered Alma smelter in Quebec with ELYSIS inert-anode technology that eliminates direct smelting greenhouse gas emissions and generates oxygen. The trial sits within a five-year supply agreement signed in October 2023 to roll out lower‑carbon aluminium cable solutions for energy transmission and data centres. CRU forecasts data centres will grow from about 7% of North American cable demand in 2025 at roughly 17% CAGR to 2030, with aluminium gaining share for campus power distribution.

Hydrogen has been used by Heidelberg Materials UK to decarbonise asphalt production on an industrial scale for the first time in the UK, replacing conventional fossil fuel combustion in the drying and heating phase of the mixing process. The trial, conducted in a full-scale asphalt plant rather than a laboratory rig, demonstrates that hydrogen burners can maintain production temperatures and binder performance within standard specification limits. For pavement designers and contractors, this signals emerging scope to cut Scope 1 emissions from asphalt plants without changing mix designs or laying procedures.

Heidelberg Materials has produced 1,303 tonnes of asphalt at its Criggion quarry in Powys using 100 per cent hydrogen in place of liquid fossil fuels, in what is claimed as the UK’s first hydrogen-fuelled asphalt production run. The trial, part-funded under DESNZ’s Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator, consumed 4,522 kg of hydrogen and cut scope 1 emissions by 76 per cent, equating to a 23 per cent reduction in product carbon footprint and 25,105 kg of CO₂ saved. If replicated across UK asphalt plants, the approach could abate around 450,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, pending proof of commercial viability.