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    ArcelorMittal launches new Carbon Capture project at Steel plant in Belgium

    Dec. 9, 2022
    The CCU plant will utilize biocatalysts to convert carbon-rich waste gases from waste biomass and from the steelmaking process into advanced ethanol, which will be jointly marketed by LanzaTech and ArcelorMittal under the Carbalyst brand name
    Older photo of Ghent steel plant. Image credit Peter Dedecker, originally posted to Flickr. Wikimedia Commons
    Older photo of Ghent steel plant. Image credit Peter Dedecker, originally posted to Flickr. Wikimedia Commons

    Luxembourg-based steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal has launched a €200 million carbon capture and utilization (CCU) project at its steel plant in the Belgian city of Ghent.

    Called ‘Steelanol’, it is the company’s flagship CCU project and will make use of carbon recycling technologies developed by LanzaTech, a project partner. Other partners include international strategic consultancy E4tech and engineering firm Primetals Technologies.

    The CCU plant will utilize biocatalysts to convert carbon-rich waste gases from waste biomass and from the steelmaking process into advanced ethanol, which will be jointly marketed by LanzaTech and ArcelorMittal under the Carbalyst brand name.

    “The imperative to accelerate the road to net zero has never been greater,” ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal said. “Given the scale of the challenge, it’s important to be open to all technology solutions and certainly, at ArcelorMittal we are open to all technologies that can take steelmaking to near zero. The investments we are planning here at Ghent are a great testament to that."

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    The advanced ethanol can be used to produce a wide range of chemical products, such as paints, transport fuels, plastics, cosmetic perfume and clothing, the steelmaker says.

    At full capacity, the Steelanol plant will produce 80 million liters of advanced ethanol, nearly 50% of Belgium’s current advanced ethanol demand for fuel mixing. The project is also estimated to help cut 125,000 tons of carbon emissions per year from the Ghent facility.

    The company also plans to inaugurate another project at its Ghent facility, aimed at transforming wood waste into sustainable biomass for use as a raw material input into the blast furnace. Expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2023, the €35 million Torero project will help further reduce carbon emissions in Ghent by 112,500 tons per year, it notes. The firm also plans to double the size of the Torero project with the addition of a second reactor over the next two years.

    ArcelorMittal aims to cut carbon emissions by 35% across its European operations and by 25% globally.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.