BHP leads steelmaker venture in Asian carbon capture storage
The study is expected to conclude in 2026 and will focus on sites in Asia or Northern Australia
[MELBOURNE] The world’s biggest miner, BHP Group, will lead a consortium of steelmakers and other industrial giants in investigating opportunities for carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) across Asia, it said on Monday (Aug 11).
ArcelorMittall Nippon Steel India, JSW Steel, Hyundai Steel, along with gas major Chevron, and Mitsui, are partners in the study, BHP said. Together, they will produce a pre-feasibility study to identify potential large-scale CCUS projects to store emissions from blast furnaces used to turn iron into steel. Steelmaking accounts for roughly 8 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions.
There are limited commercial CCUS projects in Asia, and the viability of the nascent technology is still in doubt. It involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from large industrial facilities and permanently sequestering them in underground reservoirs.
With more than one billion tonnes of steel production a year in Asia coming from blast furnaces at the early stages of their life cycle, it’s important for the industry to advance technologies capable of decarbonising existing assets, BHP vice-president marketing sustainability Ben Ellis said.
The study is expected to conclude in 2026 and will focus on sites in Asia or Northern Australia.
The steel industry is one of the hardest to decarbonise due to its heavy dependence on coal, which is currently used as fuel to produce more than 70 per cent of the global output. China aims to replace 15 per cent of its output with electric arc furnaces by the end of this year.
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BHP has embarked on a number of CCUS ventures in recent years, including with ArcelorMittal and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering. BLOOMBERG
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