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Jennie Rhodes
MOTRIL.
Friday, 31 January 2025, 19:00
A pioneering project is using sugarcane to manufacture sustainable building materials. The team behind the Sugarcrete initiative, professors Alan Chandler and Armor Gutiérrez Rivas, from the University of East London in the UK, have drawn up a plan to work more closely with the sugarcane industry in the south of Spain.
The project highlights the potential value of a crop that was once one of the area's most important industries, especially along the coast of Granada and Malaga provinces.
The idea grew out of research Gutiérrez Rivas was doing in class with architecture students in 2022. They began to explore the possibility of using agricultural waste, such as sugarcane, to create building materials.
Further research showed that the material compared well to concrete or clay bricks in terms of performance. The project evolved into academic research involving a team made up of architects, scientists and PhD students.
Following a visit to Granada province earlier this month, Chandler and Gutiérrez Rivas have drawn up a proposal which they say aims to "regenerate the economic, environmental and cultural heritage on Granada's Costa Tropical through the production of innovative bio-based carbon capturing materials using sugarcane bagasse as a core resource".
Although sugarcane production has declined over time, it is still an important crop in Granada province. Local companies such as Ron El Mondero have already provided the waste pulp - or bagasse - needed for initial trials and laboratories in Spain and the UK have tested the capabilities of the new brick.
During their visit Chandler and Gutiérrez Rivas presented the project to local authorities, architects and other representatives of Granada's construction sector during a real estate breakfast forum held at Motril's Fábrica Azucarera del Pilar. While they were in the area they visited sugarcane factories including Ron El Mondero, with a view to continuing to use the bagasse produced to create the bricks.
According to the team there are currently eight million square-metres of sugarcane plantations on the Costa Tropical which they believe could "collectively produce over 48 million carbon negative building blocks to construct new, sustainable developments".
Armor and Alan have also found that there is a growing consumer demand for ever more sustainable products in Europe. As such, they argue that Sugarcrete using the waste fibres from sugarcane after sap extraction, "creates a fully circular model".
The team's proposal aims to create "a new sustainable business through the circular economy and educational and upskilling opportunities that integrate with valuable cultural and manufacturing industries".
The team is looking into transforming dormant concrete factories into bio-based manufacturing facilities, leading to "an innovation hub in southern Spain for bio-based material production linked to sustainable agriculture". They also highlight that sugarcane is a "low water dependent crop".
They explain that their ultimate goal is "to transform the region into a European centre for biomaterial manufacturing and research that also cultivates meaningful social, cultural and environmental benefits for residents and visitors alike".
Chandler and Gutiérrez Rivas plan to return to Granada this spring to discuss plans for a cultural project in Motril as well as ideas for public workshops to explore themes linked to sugar production on the Costa Tropical.
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