South Korean steel giant Posco has recently reaffirmed its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 by adopting its own hydrogen reduction ironmaking technology, called HyREX.

This strategic shift to low-carbon production is a testament to the company's ambitious pursuit of solidifying its leadership in the realm of sustainable steel manufacturing.

To spearhead this transformation, the company set up a new team solely dedicated to carbon neutrality under the oversight of its CEO in 2022 and streamlined its organizations to come up with extensive strategies covering technologies, materials and infrastructures.

This year, the team’s status has been elevated to a “strategic office” to be headed by Kim Hee, an engineering specialist who is also the company’s female executive.

Traditional steelmaking, reliant on coal in blast furnaces for iron ore reduction, contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions. Posco's HyREX technology employs hydrogen instead of coal, slashing carbon emissions by 97 percent.

On Jan. 26 this year, Posco established a separate team to oversee the adoption of HyREX technology from research and development to equipment planning to test runs.

The team aims to commercialize HyREX by 2030 and replace blast furnaces with the new technology in phases by 2050.

In tandem with the hydrogen drive, Posco has already initiated low-carbon production using electric arc furnaces, which offer a 75 percent reduction in carbon emissions.

On Feb. 6 this year, the company started the construction of an electric arc furnace at its Gwangyang facility with an annual production capacity of 2.5 million metric tons. With 600 billion won ($463.3 million) being poured, the furnace is anticipated to become fully operational by 2026.

Posco plans to use molten iron from the electric arc furnace or combine it with molten iron produced in a blast furnace to manufacture steel. The high-temperature exhaust gas will be used to preheat scrap to make the process more energy efficient.

"Through achieving our 2050 carbon neutrality goal, we will continue to fulfill our social responsibility, responding to global demands for low-carbon products, and securing future competitiveness in global markets," a Posco official said.

In 2020, Posco declared its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, becoming the first Asian steelmaker to do so.