Project description
Rethinking soil stabilisation for a low-carbon infrastructure future
Soil stabilisation is essential for modern infrastructure, but it remains heavily dependent on carbon-intensive cement, making it a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the GEOSustainability project is developing sustainable alternatives to cement. It will be testing bio-inspired stabilisation agents such as pectin, biochar and pectin-biochar composites in terms of their performance and environmental impact under various curing conditions. A multi-criteria decision analysis will then be used to find the best combinations of soil and stabilisers. Overall, project will produce a decision support tool that encourages sustainable infrastructural developments.
Objective
The present project (GEOSustainability) addresses the urgent challenge of reducing the environmental burden of soil stabilization, a process central to modern infrastructure but dominated by carbon-intensive cement. The project proposes a comparative, cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) framework specifically designed for soil stabilization systems, bridging the gap between geo-mechanical performance and environmental sustainability. GEOSustainability introduces alternative stabilizers, biopolymer-based pectin (a plant-derived polysaccharide), biomass-derived biochar (a carbon-rich product from pyrolyzed organic waste), and their hybrid composite, that are low-cost, abundant, and often sourced from agricultural and food industry residues. These materials hold the potential to transform ground improvement into a more circular and climate-aligned practice.
The project pushes the state-of-the-art by i) designing soil–stabilizer mixtures tailored to material properties and testing their strength and durability across varied curing regimes, ii) integrating geotechnical performance data with life-cycle environmental metrics for a systems-level perspective, iii) developing a unified LCA methodology for soil stabilization applications, iv) benchmarking the life-cycle performance of bio-based stabilizers against cement across representative infrastructure scenarios, and v) identifying optimal material–soil–application combinations using multi-criteria decision analysis.
The expected outcome is a scientific and methodological framework that enables robust decision-making for sustainable soil stabilization, directly supporting the EU’s climate neutrality goals, circular economy principles, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure; SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities; SDG 13: Climate Action).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering composites
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- social sciences economics and business economics sustainable economy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.