POSCO Holdings has announced it is forming a 'steel industry CCU consortium' with LG CHEM, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, and Gyeongsangbuk-do, and participating in the carbon capture and utilization mega project promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The companies plan to focus their capabilities on developing technologies to reduce carbon generated in production processes and convert it into high-value materials.
The CCU consortium will demonstrate technology to capture carbon dioxide from byproduct gases generated in the steel-making process at POSCO's Pohang steelworks and produce syngas (carbon monoxide + hydrogen) using this captured carbon dioxide. The syngas produced will either be sold externally as a raw material for chemical products such as sustainable aviation fuel or reinjected into the steel-making process to be used as a reducing agent for iron ore to create molten steel. Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is a technology that captures carbon dioxide and converts it into useful materials.
POSCO Holdings will collaborate with POSCO, the Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST), and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) to provide the steelworks site and byproduct gases, and to engage in the development of carbon reduction technologies in steel-making processes, including carbon capture and methanol synthesis. LG CHEM will be responsible for demonstrating dry reforming of methane (DRM) technology to convert carbon dioxide and methane into carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
The CCU consortium proposed the Pohang steelworks as a demonstration site and received final approval from the Ministry of Science and ICT in October 2024. It aims to start the demonstration project in 2026 after a preliminary feasibility study in 2025.