Steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal has unveiled a project that the company says combines its low and zero-carbon products and wider green initiatives under one umbrella focused on achieving its ultimate 2050 net zero goal.
The program, dubbed XCarb, is built around three branded initiatives: XCarb green steel certificates, which the company says will enable it to support customers as they seek to reduce their Scope 3 emissions; XCarb recycled and renewably-produced products for customers; and an XCarb innovation fund, which will invest up to $100 million annually in “groundbreaking companies developing pioneering or breakthrough technologies that will accelerate the steel industry’s transition to carbon neutral steelmaking.”
ArcelorMittal’s CEO, Aditya Mittal, says the XCarb initiatives demonstrate the “important role steel has to play in a future, circular economy,” adding that the company has the scale, resources and technological prowess to make a significant impact.
One XCarb project includes investing heavily in initiatives to reduce carbon emissions from the blast furnace. One such project transforms biomass into bio-coal to replace the use of coal in the blast furnace, while another captures carbon-rich blast furnace waste gas and converts it into bio-ethanol, which can then be used to make low-carbon chemical products.
These investments have resulted in considerable CO2 savings, which the company says can be passed on to customers in the form of the company’s certification scheme: CO2 savings are aggregated, independently assured, and then converted into XCarb green steel certificates using a conversion factor that represents the average CO2 intensity of integrated steelmaking in Europe. The scheme therefore provides customers with the opportunity to buy certificates attached to their physical orders of steel, enabling them to report a reduction in their Scope 3 carbon emissions in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, according to the company.
