Canadian energy efficiency technology development company Carbon Friendly Solutions Inc. announced on March 26 that its has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hebei Iron and Steel Group Limited, a major iron and steel producer in China, through its wholly-owned subsidiary MicroCoal International Inc., setting out the terms for a detailed project design package to be developed for a large scale industrial facility.
MicroCoal Inc. has an internationally patented technology that is expected to improve coal-fired utilities' economic performance by reducing input costs, improving operations and simultaneously reducing their environmental footprint.
According to Carbon Friendly, Hebei Steel Group utilizes approximately 9 million mt of coal per year to produce steel, while China produces 51 percent of the world's metallurgical coal making it the world's largest producer and consumer of metallurgical coal, accounting for over 500 million mt of consumption in 2010.