Two of Russia’s major natural resources and mining industry players have joined forces to minimize their CO2 emissions. This new decarbonization intent comes from Severstal – one of the world’s largest steel and mining companies and one of the country’s major oil producers, Gazprom Neft.
The two giants signed a memorandum of understanding and a cooperation agreement to work together on creating technologies for the transportation and storage of hydrogen, as well as for its use in metallurgical production.
Furthermore, the two companies have agreed to develop opportunities for carbon capture and utilization technologies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021, the focus of which is precisely on low-carbon development and global decarbonization.
More Decarbonization On The Way?
If both parties wish to, later on, they may also collaborate on implementing these technological projects designed to reduce CO2 emissions. And potentially, this may also involve the substitution of hydrocarbon fuel in production processes with methane-hydrogen alternatives.
Both companies are also keen on leading by example, as Severstal currently ranks 11th among the world’s steel producers in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. Thus, the mining company is now actively working towards achieving its goal of reducing those emissions by 3% by the year 2023.
In a comment on the recently signed agreement, Severstal’s CEO Alexander Shevelev pointed out that the company recognizes how battling climate change and reducing its carbon footprint will be a “significant theme in the coming decades”.
He also predicted that carbon capture and disposal technologies, as well as hydrogen production, would open up “great opportunities” for additional income and capitalization.
