Carbon Storing Bricks & Solar Hybrid Generators for Net Zero Sites

Date: 15/09/25

Here at Think Hire, there are lots of ways we can help your construction site to reach net zero, including solar hybrid generator hire to power everything from site lighting to electric vehicles and plant. But what about the buildings themselves?

A pioneering company in Sheffield has developed a revolutionary new design of bricks that actually absorb carbon dioxide from the surrounding atmosphere. So now you can not only cut the carbon your site produces using solar hybrid generators, but also remove some of the carbon that’s left simply by selecting the right building materials.

Carbon free brick making

The bricks have been developed by a company called earth4Earth, based at Sheffield Technology Park. They’re currently manufactured in Wuhan, China, although earth4Earth plans to bring manufacturing back to the UK next year. 

These remarkable bricks not only absorb carbon from the atmosphere, but they are also made in a way that does not produce carbon like traditional brick making techniques do. Bricks made in the traditional way use lime, which is made by heating limestone up to 1000°C. This not only produces CO2 emissions from the limestone, but also from the fossil fuels that are burned to achieve this temperature.

The innovative process for making the new bricks creates lime at room temperature, and delivers any resulting carbon as a solid rather than releasing it into the atmosphere as a gas. They are also compressed, rather than fired in the traditional way, saving even more fossil fuels and the associated emissions. This means that bricks could actually be made on the site where they are to be used, cutting their carbon footprint even further.

Half a kilo of carbon locked in

To compare the two, a traditional brick creates around 180g of CO2 when it’s made, and absorbs very little carbon during its lifetime, while the earth4Earth bricks produce zero CO2 during manufacturing and can absorb up to 535g of carbon each during their lifetime.

What’s more, that half a kilo of carbon is locked in for life, as stable carbonates, which will not be released even when the bricks are crushed for re-use or turned into fertiliser.

The earth4Earth bricks are no crazy climate change concept; they are a bona fide building material and have been approved for construction use, meeting stringent British Standards BS EN 771-1 for clay masonry units.

Cutting emissions in construction

The construction industry ‘consumes more resources and produces more waste than any other single industry’ according to John Grant, senior lecturer in climate change and sustainability at Sheffield Hallam University. He says that it is ‘critical’ that we find ways to reduce the carbon footprint of construction, and at Think Hire, we couldn’t agree more.

Our solar hybrid generators give you access to clean, renewable energy from the sun, cutting your dependence on diesel and substantially reducing your carbon emissions. You can even reduce your emissions further by powering the built-in back-up unit in your solar hybrid generator with HVO, LPG or even glycerine. Better still, on almost every site, switching to a solar hybrid generator significantly cuts operating costs too, meaning you can save money while helping to save the earth.

Not giving up on net zero

Here at Think Hire, we applaud the innovative thinking of the earth4Earth team in finding a unique and original way to reduce the carbon impact of construction. In a country that is desperately short of housing, we all have a role to play in achieving the new building growth we need, without causing irreparable damage to the environment in the process.

To find out more about solar hybrid generators from Think Hire, contact our team today and to learn more about carbon absorbing bricks visit the earth4Earth website. Together we can build the homes we need, and build a brighter future, at the same time.

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