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Pakistan to abandon

new coal projects

PAKISTAN PAKISTANI Prime Minister Imran Khan has However, renewables and nuclear only make
said that his country will no longer approve new up 9% of the energy mix, while hydropower pro-
coal-fired power generation projects as part of a duces 27% and fossil fuels – natural gas, lique-
number of efforts by his government to combat fied natural gas, and coal – generate 64% of the
climate change. electricity.
“We have already scrapped two coal power The country also suffers from a 2,000-MW
projects which were supposed to produce 2,600 supply gap, and annual demand is growing by
MW of energy. [We have] replaced them with 7%.
hydroelectricity,” Khan told the virtual Climate Khan has made filling this gap a major prior-
Ambition Summit 2020, which was hosted ity of his premiership.
by the United Nations, the United Kingdom, He has also claimed that Pakistan is the fifth
France, Chile and Italy. most vulnerable country to the effects of global
Khan added that his government would pro- warming, despite its contribution to global emis-
mote new uses for the country’s coal reserves, sions being less than 1%.
such as coal-to-liquid or coal-to-gas technology. According to the 2020 Global Climate Risk
“We have also decided that by 2030, 60% of all Index report, in the past 20 years, the country has
energy produced in Pakistan will be from clean had 152 climate-change-related events that have
energy, renewables, and also 30% of all our vehi- killed almost 500 people and caused economic
cles will be [powered by] electricity,” the PM said. losses of over $3.7bn.
Pakistan has opened 18 wind power projects The country has accepted investment from
with 937 MW of capacity over the past five years, China, with a number of large hydro projects
as well as six solar power projects with 418 MW beginning to be developed as part of the Belt and
and six biomass projects totalling 201 MW. Road Initiative (BRI).™

CARBON NEUTRAL

Nippon Steel sets 2050 net zero target

P JAPANESE steelmaker Nippon Steel has set a mill in Hyogo Prefecture in the fiscal year end-
net-zero emissions target for 2050. ing March 2023, with the view of expanding such
The decision could pave the way for other usage. It will also look into carbon capture and
Asian Japanese manufacturers and industrial storage (CCS) technologies to ensure it meets its
giants to meet Japanese Prime Minister Yoshi- environmental target.
hide Suga’s 2050 carbon neutrality for the econ- Nippon Steel is behind other global steelmak-
omy as a whole, the Nikkei reported. ers in committing to reduce emissions.
Nippon Steel, which is the country’s biggest ArcelorMittal is investing €40bn ($48.4bn) in
steelmaker, aims to use innovative hydrogen developing up low-emission steelmaking meth-
technology to reduce CO2 emissions by up to ods, including the use of hydrogen, with the ulti-
80%. mate aim of cutting emissions to zero globally
The steelmaker intends to unveil full details of by 2050.
its plan by March 2021. Germany’s ThyssenKrupp has also started
Nippon Steel had not formally set the 2050 building a new steel mill that uses the hydrogen
goal, but president Eiji Hashimoto told the Nik- steelmaking process.
kei of the company’s goal. The plan it is now Yet the costs are high, with ArcelorMittal say-
drafting will also set a target for 2030 for other ing that it could cost €200bn to develop hydro-
green initiatives but the zero-emission goal will gen steelmaking fully.
form the central pillar of its strategy. In Europe and China, governments are tak-
New technology will include electric furnaces ing the lead and supporting steelmakers finan-
that are environmentally friendlier, a crucial cially to make the transition to hydrogen.
change, as the steel industry is the biggest pro- Hashimoto of Nippon Steel said that transna-
ducer of CO2 in the manufacturing sector. tional and trans-industry efforts are crucial for
Nippon Steel and rival JFE Steel are work- companies to accelerate research and develop-
ing to replace coke with hydrogen as a reducing ment in setting up infrastructure for hydrogen to
agent in the steel manufacturing process. be procured affordably, for example.™
It will start using an electric furnace in a steel

Week 50 16•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9