Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB has announced that it will invest SEK 13 million (€1.4 million) in a research project which will test the use of biocoal in blast furnace-based manufacturing of steel. This is a new method which may reduce fossil CO2 emissions by up to 30 percent.
According to SSAB, the steel industry is facing major challenges in its repositioning to a more sustainable society. SSAB’s blast furnaces are among the most carbon dioxide efficient in the world while, at the same time, the company accounts for approximately 10 percent of Sweden’s emissions of carbon dioxide. The possibilities are already being studied in Oxelösund for fossil-free manufacturing by 2026.
The purpose of the project is to showcase the possibilities for dealing with pre-treated biomass containing renewable energy, for example residual products from forestry operations. The project will commence in September 2017 and the preparation and implementation of operational testing is planned for 2018-2019.