Green steel made from tropical biomass – European project

Not only is steel making one of the world’s largest industries, it is also one of the most energy and carbon intensive ones. Per ton of steel produced, some 2 to 3 barrels of oil equivalent energy are needed, and 1 to 1.5 tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. […]

Now Europe too is working on a vast project, named ULCOS (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking), aimed at halving CO2 emissions by the steel industry by developing innovative biomass supply and charcoal production processes.

The French ‘Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le developpement’ (CIRAD), Europe’s leading research organisation involved in sustainable tropical agriculture as a tool for foreign aid in the developing world, is a main partner in the project and is studying how to replace fossil fuels in the steel industry with biomass from forest plantations in the tropics. Two main points are being addressed: biomass availability from such plantations and the development of more efficient, less polluting processes for converting that biomass into charcoal, which is vital for steelmaking.

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