In Belgium, site preparation works have begun on the Steelanol pilot project at ArcelorMittal Gent. The EUR 87 million "steel and ethanol" project aims to convert waste gas from steel production into ethanol using a proprietary microbial technology developed by US carbon recycling developer LanzaTech, Inc.
According to a statement, the site preparation works began in October 2015 and are expected to be completed by the end of the year. The work consists of topsoil removal, levelling and increasing the foundation height by 2.5 metres with sand, necessary to prevent flooding.
The project, which started in June 2015 has been granted EUR 10.2 million in funding under the EU Horizon 2020 programme (H2020) towards the construction of the new production facility and the startup phase.
The objectives of Steelanol are fully in line with the H2020-LCE-12-2014-2 (Low Carbon Energy) challenges and expected impact of testing advanced biofuel technologies at large industrial scale to reduce technological risks, paving the way for subsequent commercial-scale industrial demonstration projects.
