OVERVIEW
Energy Carbon capture research could transform industry. SECTOR INSIGHT BMW will make hybrids from 2024.
If carbon captured from the steel-making process could be repurposed, the energy transition could happen more quickly.
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ne way of cleaning up the energy landscape is to switch fuel sources from fossil fuels to renewables such as solar and wind. And the world is doing a lot of that. Another way is to use renewable energy to clean up or repurpose the emissions coming from fossil fuels. That’s what Sasol and ArcelorMittal South Africa are looking into in Gauteng. Two of South Africa’s biggest and most successful companies are joining forces to try to convert captured carbon from ArcelorMittal South Africa’s Vanderbijlpark’s steel plant into sustainable fuels and chemicals using renewable energy. The carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) study supplements work being done by the Council for Geoscience in Mpumalanga. Both industrial operators have a stated ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Sasol is also working with the steel producer in the Western Cape on a green steel and green hydrogen and derivatives study. “We are very excited to be leading the pre-feasibility and feasibility studies on these two potential projects that hold promise to unlock South Africa’s potential to be a global green hydrogen and derivatives player. These studies are anchored by the local need for green hydrogen and sustainable products, cementing Sasol as the leading contributor to the development of Southern Africa’s green hydrogen economy,” says Priscillah Mabelane, Executive Vice President for Sasol’s Energy Business. The Vaal CCU study will explore transporting up to 1.5-million tons GAUTENG BUSINESS 2023/24
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a year of industrial CO2 captured f ro m t h e Va n d e r b i j l p a r k Works to the Sasolburg and Ekandustria operating facilities in Sasolburg which will then, together with green hydrogen, eventually replace natural gas as a feedstock to produce sustainable chemicals products. The Vaal Triangle has been home to fossil fuel-based industrial operations that have been vital to the country’s economic development over many decades. It is believed that many of the assets in these operations can be repurposed in such a way as they become more sustainable, leading to a revitalisation of the region. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), as the driver of the state’s hydrogen economy and commercialisation programmes, came out strongly in support of the Sasol and ArcelorMittal partnership. “The IDC supports sector linkages like this that are critical to realising South Africa’s ambition to develop the green hydrogen economy,” said Joanne Bate, Chief Operating Officer for the IDC. Sasol is simultaneously exploring export markets for the hydrogen and ammonia that it expects to produce in large quantities. With both products being an important PHOTO: ArcelorMittal
