BHP Billiton funds carbon capture and storage research in China

6th June 2016 By: Creamer Media Reporter

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified mining group BHP Billiton on Monday announced that it would provide $7.37-million in funding to Peking University, in Beijing, to accelerate carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) research.

The three-year agreement would focus on policy, and technical and economic barriers to CCUS deployment in the industrial sector, particularly in the iron and steel industries.

"The application of carbon capture, use and storage may prove to be important to reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emitted by the steel sector in China and elsewhere. However, investment in the technology is behind where it needs to be,” said BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie.

It was hoped that the research would draw more capital into the development of CCUS for use in steelmaking and boarder industrial applications.

Mackenzie added that policies were also required to support the deployment and growth of the technology.

“As a major metallurgical coal and iron-ore supplier, BHP Billiton has a role in working with our customers, industry and research institutions in China. The work to be undertaken through this agreement is a necessary first step to get the fundamentals right and accelerate CCUS development and deployment,” he stated.