Study to accelerate decarbonisation in Asia

The study is expected to be completed in late 2026, with findings to be shared publicly to promote broader industry learning and support the development of enabling policy and regulatory frameworks.

An industry consortium is undertaking a pre-feasibility study to assess the development of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) hubs across Asia.

The consortium is comprised of leading steelmakers ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, JSW Steel, Hyundai Steel Company and other value chain players BHP (ASX: BHP), Chevron and Mitsui & Co.

Focusing on the potential to develop large-scale projects which can repurpose, or store, captured carbon dioxide, the study will be the first independent industry-led study of its kind in Asia and will examine pathways to utilising CCUS in hard-to-abate industries across the region.

By leveraging shared infrastructure and economies of scale, the study will seek potential applications for captured carbon dioxide in industrial processes, or transportation through pipeline or shipping to storage sites in Asia or northern Australia.

BHP marketing sustainability vice president Dr Ben Ellis says the company is committed to supporting its steelmaking customers on their journey to decarbonise the industry.

“With more than 1bt of production a year in Asia coming from blast furnace capacity that is relatively early in its production life, it’s important for industry to progress technologies to decarbonise existing steelmaking assets while new commercial pathways to decarbonise steelmaking are developed over time,” he said.

Each study participant will be included in at least one hub and will deliver conceptual development strategies for each hub covering cost and schedule estimates and commercialisation pathways.

The study will also assess non-technical enablers required to make CCUS hubs feasible, including regulatory assessments and intra and inter-regional assessments of CCUS and cross border transport.

A role for CCUS is well represented in several external global climatic scenarios. Carbon capture technologies used in a range of existing industrial applications are relatively mature and able to integrate with existing facilities.

The consortium is prioritising the study of scalable utilisation and storage solutions to test the potential for broader adoption to support decarbonisation, especially in regions where regulatory hurdles and market maturity limit progress.

By concentrating on regional hubs, the study will look to find ways to solve the challenge of scale by aggregating captured carbon into sufficiently large quantities to:

  • Optimise the unit cost of capture, transportation, and storage through economies-of-scale
  • Provide sufficient scale for economic utilisation solutions
  • Unlock novel solutions for multiple hard-to-abate industries at once, to enable regional decarbonisation efforts to be accelerated, and/or
  • Ensure cost and risk is appropriately shared among interested parties.

Chevron Australia lower carbon execution general manager David Fallon says Chevron believes in the critical role CCUS can play in a lower carbon world, including by reducing carbon emissions in the hard-to-abate sectors.

“We are focused on leveraging our expertise and global reach to advance CCUS technologies and scale lower carbon solutions across the value chain with a focus on areas including the hard-to-abate sector,” he said.

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