Taiheiyo Cement joins Japanese CCS value chain study

Taiheiyo Cement Corp has joined six other companies in a feasibility study into the use of advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Japan. The study forms part of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s goal to harness CCS, particularly in hard-to-abate industries, to help reach the government’s targets of a 46 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (compared to FY13) by FY30, and carbon neutrality by 2050. 

The study was initially launched in January this year with the involvement of ITOCHU Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, INPEX Corp and Taisei Corp. The joint project relates to the separation, capture, transportation by ship, and storage of CO₂ from hard-to-abate industries in Japan, along with the selection of suitable sites for CO₂ storage across the country.

Since the launch, Nippon Steel, Taiheiyo Cement and CIECO, a core operating subsidiary in the oil and natural gas development business of the ITOCHU Group, have joined the study with the aim of launching a CCS value chain by FY30. The seven companies will identify technical issues across the entire CCS value chain, as well as commercial and social acceptability issues, based on the overall concept of using ships to transport CO₂ separated and captured at specific plants run by Nippon Steel and Taiheiyo Cement, to sites appropriate for CO₂ storage.