In Ghent, Belgium, ArcelorMittal has started operating the so-called Torero plant. The plant is the only one in the European steel industry to use the process of converting wood waste into biochar in order to reduce the consumption of fossil coal.
ArcelorMittal Belgium wants to work for more sustainability and circular economy. The company strives to produce steel in a socially responsible manner and considers the social impact along the entire product chain.
Less coal use
As part of this, ArcelorMittal Belgium has commissioned a plant that processes wood waste into biochar suitable for the blast furnace process, thereby reducing the amount of fossil coal used. This project will reduce annual carbon emissions by 112,500 tons. The Torero plant will convert 88,000 tons of wood waste into 37,500 tons of biochar annually.
“ArcelorMittal Belgium has the ambition to decarbonise its steel production. In this context, we are fully committed to implementing an action plan to reduce CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 compared to 2018 and become climate neutral by 2050. We want to reduce not only our carbon footprint, but also our waste footprint - our steel company has a roadmap to zero carbon emissions and zero waste,” said Manfred Van Vlierberghe, CEO ArcelorMittal Belgium.
Ethanol as a by-product
The use of biochar in the blast furnace process creates biogas, which is converted into ethanol at the Steelanol plant, which can then be used as a building block for the production of a variety of chemical products such as fuels, paints, plastics, clothing and even perfume, thus contributing contributes to the decarbonization efforts of the chemical sector. The ethanol is marketed jointly by ArcelorMittal and LanzaTech under the brand name Carbalyst®.
“We are pleased that the Torero project, based on Perpetual Next’s C-Vertr carbonization technology, is coming online at one of Europe’s largest steel mills. Switching to biochar, made from local wood waste, is a very effective way to reduce the carbon footprint in today’s steelmaking process and become a circular system,” says Martijn Dekker, CTO Perpetual Next.
When the new plant was built it employed 70 external employees, the operation of this plant will result in 16 new direct permanent jobs at ArcelorMittal Belgium. The Torero project is supported by European funding, with the project consortium consisting of the entire value chain.
