Carbo Culture Aims to Decarbonise Heavy Industry with Green Transition Solutions for Steel
To combat climate change, we must effectively ramp up the carbon removal industry while rapidly decarbonising the hard-to-abate industries. Biochar is uniquely poised to be the critical climate technology to tackle this dual challenge of large-scale carbon removal and the urgent need to decarbonise heavy industries. For this reason, we at Carbo Culture will now focus on both biochar carbon removal and industrial decarbonisation with biogenic alternatives to fossil-based products. This strategic move underscores our commitment to doing everything we can to combat climate change.
Abating the Hard-to-Abate
Steelmaking currently accounts for 7-9% of global CO₂ emissions. Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) are integral to reducing the steel industry’s carbon footprint. However, the need to replace fossil carbon remains. Fortunately, a cleaner alternative exists. With our proprietary Carbolysis™ technology, we produce premium biochar that can directly replace coke in Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) and Blast Furnaces (BF). In this way, it’s possible to manufacture 100% green steel and drive down 85% of the remaining emissions of EAFs. Additionally, using Carbo Culture biochar in metallurgy can help steelmakers meet stricter EU ETS regulations and reduce exposure to carbon taxes.
Reduce emissions while maintaining performance
Steelmaking requires high-quality carbon to replace coal and coke in the demanding processes
- Reducing agent: Biochar replaces fossil coke as a source of carbon in the reduction of iron ore into metallic iron
- Slag Foaming: Biochar combustion properties support effective slag formation, improving the efficiency of the process and protecting furnace linings.
Carbo Culture biochar offers over 90% fixed carbon content, low impurities, and low VOCs making it an exceptionally high-quality solution for metallurgy. In addition, CarbolysisTM scales to industrial volumes. This is critical as the steelmaking industry requires tens of thousands – or even hundreds of thousands – of tons of constant-quality biochar per plant. Moreover, every ton of biochar used in metallurgy will reduce over 3 tons of CO₂ emissions, accelerating the industry’s strive for net zero while meeting stricter regulatory standards and mitigating carbon tax exposure.
Shaping a cleaner future for steel
Carbo Culture’s entry into the green steel sector is a significant step in our aim to reshape heavy industries with cleaner, scalable alternatives to fossil carbon. In metallurgical applications, biochar is combusted, therefore, it no longer sequesters CO2. Hence, these industrial applications do not contribute to carbon removal (CDR) pathways. However, high-quality biochar is an effective, market-ready solution to reduce industrial CO2 emissions rapidly.
We are excited to collaborate with steelmakers and industry leaders to transform the value chain and drive progress toward a sustainable future. If you’re interested in how our biochar solutions can power your green transition, reach out today. Let’s collaborate to build a cleaner, net-zero steel industry!
Read more about our biocarbon for metallurgy here.
