MT ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal will invest $5 million in Canadian biocarbon startup Char Technologies, the global steelmaker said Wednesday.

ArcelorMittal provided the funding through the company's inaugural XCarb accelerator program, which finances technologies that have the potential to hasten the decarbonization of the steel industry, the company said in a news release. More than 90 startups applied for funding under the program.

Char's technology transforms organic waste streams into one of two energy outputs: hydrogen-rich syngas that can be used as a replacement for natural gas, or biocarbon, which can be used to replace coal in industrial processes.

ArcelorMittal's Canadian subsidiary, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, has been using Char's biocarbon as a partial replacement for coal in its steelmaking with "encouraging results," ArcelorMittal said.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco has signed a memorandum of understanding with Char to purchase biocarbon from its facility in Ontario and enable trials on a larger scale in the coming years, the company added.

"Char's biocarbon enables an approximate 91% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to metallurgical coal and has been tested by ArcelorMittal Dofasco since 2021," the company said.

The steel industry accounts for about 7% of global greenhouse gases and its emissions would be the third-highest in the world if it were a country, the independent sustainability research organization RMI said in a report released in September.

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--Reporting by Abdul Latheef, alatheef@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeremy Rakes, jrakes@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 05, 2023 13:50 ET (17:50 GMT)

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