Energy / Climate Change

March 10, 2012

 

Eucalyptus Charcoal Blast Furnace Offsets CO2 Emissions

Keywords: Climate Change Environmental Technology Manufacturing industry Renewable Energy 

Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil Ltda (VSB) inaugurated its new steelworks in Jeceaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on September 1, 2011. VSB is a seamless pipe joint venture by Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., a major Japanese steel manufacturer, Sumitomo Corporation, and Vallourec of France, a major French steel company.

The steelworks features a charcoal blast furnace that uses charcoal made from eucalyptus trees grown at a contracted plantation as a reducing material, instead of coal. Because the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that eucalyptus trees absorb as they grow is equivalent to the emissions from the furnace, this approach can reduce emissions to nearly zero, making the practice almost carbon neutral.

VSB has a forested area of 660 hectares in which thousands of native species saplings, as well as eucalyptus trees, are planted. By planting these trees, the company contributes to global environment conservation through recovering biodiversity, reforestation, and biomass and CO2 absorption.

Nippon Steel Tests Reduction of CO2 Emissions by Burning Logging Residue Biomass along with Coal (related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/030691.html

Posted: 2012/03/10 06:00:15 AM

Japanese  

Reference

Sumitomo Metals’s seamless pipe joint venture VSB in Brazil holds inauguration
http://www.sumitomometals.co.jp/e/press/2011/news2011-09-02.html
Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil Ltda (VSB) official website
http://www.vstubos.com/sustentabilidade.php


 

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