Japanese steel energy storage

How can Japan make the steel industry sustainable?

ectrical appliances. To make the steel industry sustainable, Japan will work with the public and private sectors to pave the way toward produci g “green steel.”“I believe that the decarbonization of the steel industry needs to be tackled as a mission shared by all of Japan,” says ORIHASHI

How does Japan's steel industry develop?

Japan’s steel industry developed through the blast furnace process, which is energy efficient and capable of mass-producing high-quality steel with few impurities. Still, such a process uses carbon to reduce (remove oxygen from) iron ore, the raw material, making carbon (i.e., CO2) emissions inevitable.

Why is steel important in Japan?

Just as the traditional swordsmith meticulously works steel to combine those contradictory properties within a sword, Japan’s steel industry produces high-performance, high-quality steel materials fit for a variety of applications, supporting its global competitiveness in industrial products.

What will Japan do with scrap steel?

Crude steel production in Japan will shift from a focus on blast furnaces to electric furnaces. The rational choice for Japan is to make maximum use of the large amount of scrap steel that exists in Japan, import or produce a limited amount of hydrogen direct-reduced iron domestically, and make steel in electric furnaces.

Can Japan produce green steel?

Accelerated decarbonization efforts are critical for Japan's steel industry to remain competitive in the global market. This report identifies the challenges of producing green steel in Japan through blast furnaces, hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (H 2 -DRI) making, and electric furnaces.

How can Japan decarbonize the steel industry?

・In Japan, so-called “COURSE50” and “SuperCOURSE50” projects, which use hydrogen in blast furnaces along with CCS, have comprised the main efforts to decarbonize the steel industry. However, their carbon reduction targets are 30% and 50%, respectively, and cannot be claimed as methods aiming at zero-carbon steelmaking.