Australian mining company BHP Billiton has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea-based steel producer POSCO to jointly explore greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies in integrated steelmaking.
As part of the agreement, the parties plan to undertake plant trials to lower carbon in the steelmaking process, including optimizing coke quality and assessing carbon capture storage and utilization options to lower carbon intensity in the blast furnace, while they also intend to share research on hydrogen-based direct reduction technology.
BHP will invest up to US$10 million over the next five years under the agreement, funded under the company’s US$400 million Climate Investment Program.
Meanwhile, BHP also signed two other memorandums of understanding with Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel and China-based HBIS Company Limited to jointly study technologies capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the integrated steelmaking process, as SteelOrbis previously reported.