By SEISAKU YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer
February 6, 2025 at 08:00 JST
The Nippon Steel Corp. logo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Nippon Steel Corp. said it achieved the world’s first carbon dioxide (CO2) emission cut of 43 percent by using hydrogen instead of coal in a blast furnace.
The breakthrough was made in a test furnace in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, officials said.
The current mainstream of steelmaking in a blast furnace involves massive CO2 emissions during the process of using coal to remove oxygen from iron ore.
Nippon Steel has been working since May 2022 on tests for using heated hydrogen, instead of coal, to curb CO2 emissions.
Improving the heat balance inside the blast furnace helped increase the reduction rate, the officials said.
Nippon Steel will continue working to develop technologies to further improve the reduction rate and seek to put them into practical use in large blast furnaces, the officials added.
The steelmaking industry accounts for more than 10 percent of Japan’s total CO2 emissions.
Nippon Steel, the country’s leading steelmaker, has a self-declared goal of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050.
Measures under consideration are a full-scale introduction of electric arc furnaces, where electric power is used to melt scrap iron, and CO2 capture and storage.
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