New EU-Funded Project to Drive Metallurgical Industry Towards Zero Emissions and Circular Carbon

The EU-funded EMPHATICAL project (Efficient Methanol from Pumped Heat and Calcium Looping), launched in November 2024, will address the challenges the metallurgical industry faces in transitioning to zero-emission and circular carbon processes. This will be achieved by designing a First- of-a-Kind (FOAK) demonstrator to establish the economic and environmental viability of the electrified metallurgical industry and methanol production. EMPHATICAL is developing a demonstrator plant (TRL 7) that will use innovative processes to capture gases containing residual CO/CO₂ from highly electrified metallurgical industries using the energy-efficient integration of technologies to capture, purify, and convert CO₂ to e-methanol, powered by green hydrogen.

To meet 2050 climate goals, the metallurgical industry must reduce its carbon dependence and address difficult-to-abate emissions. EMPHATICAL will provide a cost-effective, sustainable solution, integrating renewable energy and circular processes to transform CO₂ into valuable products like methanol. This approach will help the industry transition to net-zero emissions and carbon circularity.

“The EMPHATICAL consortium is committed to a more sustainable future for the metallurgical industry by turning industrial CO₂ emissions into valuable e-methanol using cutting-edge technologies,” says Yvonne van Delft, TNO, EMPHATICAL Project Coordinator. “By integrating renewable energy, circular processes, and innovative CO₂ capture, we are tackling some of the toughest challenges of the metallurgical industry. With demonstrator, we’re proving that the path to net-zero is not only possible but economical and scalable!”

EMPHATICAL will demonstrate its concept, advancing it from TRL 5 to TRL 7, with the goal of reducing specific energy consumption and production costs by 25%. Risks are addressed early, with each unit able to operate independently, ensuring immediate performance and efficiency gains. The optimal process will be demonstrated by SWERIM at the Lulea test site using two types of residual gases: i) from secondary steel production in an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), and ii) from submerged arc furnaces (SAF) in ferrochrome alloy production. The successful demonstration will lay the critical stepping stone for the construction of a FOAK plant within a timeframe of 4 years, targeting a reduction of 41 million tons of CO₂ annually by 2050. A comprehensive assessment of economic and environmental impacts will guide the project’s development and demonstrate its long-term viability.

The project consortium, led by TNO, includes 17 key partners focused on developing the economic potential and sustainability of electrified metallurgical and methanol production. These includes:

• 11 knowledge providers from across Europe (TNO, Politecnico di Milano, TU Delft, CSIC,
  CIRCE, SWERIM, DLR, LEAP, INERIS, Comillas Pontifical University, and UCL);
• 2 technology providers to design, procure and construct the demonstrator (Bright
  Renewables and Sumitomo SHI FW);
• 2 end-users consisting of one steel and one alloy producer (Vargön Alloys AB and CELSA);
• 1 service provider for LCA (CARE FOR Engineering);
• 1 European association focusing on communication and dissemination (CO2 Value Europe).

Acknowledgements

The EMPHATICAL project has received funding from the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme Ref: 101177725.

Contacts

Carmen Liu, CO2 Value Europe – EMPHATICAL Communication Team
Tel: +32 494 36 01 44
Email: carmen.liu@co2value.eu

Antonio La Mantia, CO2 Value Europe – EMPHATICAL Communication Team
Tel: +39 380 328 1710
E-mail: antonio.lamantia@CO2Value.eu

Yvonne van Delft, TNO, EMPHATICAL Project Coordinator
Tel: +31612410583
Email: yvonne.vandelft@tno.nl

Source

CO2 Value Europe, press release, 2024-11-29.

Supplier

CO2 Value Europe
Swerim
TNO

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