During its official day at the Climate Summit, the Jastrzębie-Zdrój-based company held a conference devoted to the significance of coking coal for modern industry and innovative solutions in the chemical sector. Two panel discussions with the participation of industry experts, entitled “From coal to steel” and “From coal to chemistry”, corroborated coking coal’s key role in the global economy. The meeting was attended by Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Deputy Minister of Energy, who highlighted the fact that JSW’s plans related, among other aspects, to the production of hydrogen using coke oven gas are a perfect match with the “Program for Silesia” and the government’s “Strategy for Responsible Development” initiative.
“The need to adapt to ever more rigorous environmental and climatic requirements is among the most pressing challenges facing the mining industry today,” said Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Deputy Minister of Energy. “JSW understands this challenge perfectly well. I can assure you without a shadow of a doubt that all actions taken by the Company go hand in hand with responsibility and care for the interests of the natural environment and the society as a whole.”
The panelists participating in the meeting held by JSW pointed out that there are currently no alternative and economically viable technologies for smelting steel without using coking coal. Coking coal is included in the list of the European Union’s strategic raw materials as an indispensable input for smelting steel. The steel industry has an enormous impact on the economy’s key segments, such as the construction, automotive, railway, shipbuilding, fuel and household appliance industries. It should be emphasized is that steel is a prerequisite for the development of an innovative low-emission economy. Transformation toward a low-emission industry in the coming years will drive upward the demand for environmentally friendly products, such as electric vehicles and windmills. This will obviously translate into growing demand for steel.
Speakers from Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG, EDAG and Třinecké Železárny argued that modern mining, coking and steelmaking industries are doing their utmost to satisfy the requirements of the EU’s climate policy, which would not be plausible without having extensive research and scientific capabilities. The innovative solutions introduced by industry give a guarantee of reducing emissions while also contributing to a global energy transformation.
From coal to environmentally friendly chemistry
Modern global industry, including the mining and steel sectors, continuously introduces innovative technological solutions resulting in the creation of new environmentally friendly products.
The panelists, representing leading companies from various industries cooperating with JSW, presented their ideas on what it means specifically to adopt a friendly approach to the natural environment. The Japanese giant Mitsubishi presented state-of-the-art systems for capturing carbon dioxide. Hydrogen Europe, the largest organization active in the hydrogen sector, bringing together leading utility, transport and industrial companies, presented long-term development plans focusing on hydrogen as one of the fuels of the future supporting energy transformation. The famous Germany-based Fraunhofer Society argued in favor of carbon fibers as an excellent structural material making the weight of cars and airplanes smaller and thus contributing to reduced CO2 emissions. Rain Carbon Inc., a global leader and innovator in hydrocarbon products, presented some possibilities of distilling tar and making modern innovative products based on this material. Scotland’s University of St Andrews presented certain technological possibilities of using CO2 and methane in the production of carbon nanostructures.
Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa argued that the traditional mining industry has the potential of becoming a leader in environmentally friendly technologies. JSW is the first company in this part of the world that intends to build an installation for the industrial separation of hydrogen from coke oven gas generated as a byproduct in the coke production process. Purified hydrogen may be used in hydrogen cells for generation of electricity, heat and cool air, powering electrical devices and emergency power supply stations, for instance for hospitals, schools and government buildings, but may also be extremely valuable as an environmentally friendly fuel for the public transport sector. JSW is changing from a traditional supplier of a strategic raw material for the steel industry to a model company for the mining sector, featuring the following modern value chain: coking coal – coke – gas – environmentally friendly products.
“The role we want to play in Poland is one of a catalyst in modern global technologies which, owing to our cooperation with industry leaders, are readily available. We are adding new value chains. We have plans to invest in the production of hydrogen, which has been dubbed the ‘fuel of the future’. We have the capacity of producing 8,000 tons of 99.999% pure hydrogen per year. Hydrogen produced in JSW’s installation will be available for powering hundreds of zero-emission buses that will serve over 2.5 million inhabitants of the Silesian Metropolitan Area. We are actively promoting this fuel also here, at COP 24. We have arranged for a hydrogen bus which, among its other applications, is also used to operate a shuttle service for participants of the Climate Summit, and a mobile hydrogen refueling station, which has been used, for instance, by representatives of Hydrogen Europe who have come here from Brussels in a hydrogen-powered car,” said Daniel Ozon, JSW President.
JSW has confirmed that as part of its revitalization program of the former Krupiński mine in Suszec it is considering the establishment of a factory to produce coal fibers from byproducts of the coking process and, on the site of the former Dębieńsko mine, a factory to produce adsorbents, coal nanotubes, using byproducts of the coking coal and coke production process. The application of high-quality lightweight materials and components reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
