The University of Birmingham has stated that its university researchers have designed a “closed loop” carbon recycling system that could reduce carbon emissions from the steelmaking industry by nearly 90 percent.
This system, which uses a crystalline mineral lattice known as a perovskite material, could replace 90 percent of the coke typically used in current blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace systems. According to the statement, if implemented in the UK alone, the system could deliver cost savings of £1.28 billion in five years while reducing overall UK emissions by 2.9 percent.
“Current proposals for decarbonizing the steel sector rely on phasing out existing plants and introducing electric arc furnaces powered by renewable electricity. However, an electric arc furnace plant can cost over £1 billion to build, which makes this switch economically unfeasible in the time remaining to meet the Paris Climate Agreement. The system we are proposing can be retrofitted to existing plants, and both the reduction in carbon, and the cost savings, are seen immediately,” Professor Yulong Ding from the University of Birmingham, said.