Metallurgists seek loopholes to achieve carbon neutrality without reducing emissions
POSCO, the largest metallurgical company in South Korea purchased 64,000 tonnes of liquefied green natural gas to reduce the carbon footprint of steel production. The trick is that the production of green LNG uses regular natural gas, but its price is based on offsetting carbon dioxide emissions through carbon credits obtained from afforestation, renewable energy projects and environmental projects. p>
64,000 tonnes of carbon-neutral LNG offsets about 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from production and supply, which is equivalent to reducing carbon emissions from 15,000 vehicles per year.
Carbon neutral LNG, which departed from Australia and arrived at the POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks LNG terminal on March 19, will be used for the operation of the POSCO smelter and for the power supply in the future.
The purchase of POSCO's green LNG is significant as the steel company announced its contribution to the global effort to achieve carbon neutrality, even though it does not count towards Korea's carbon footprint.
POSCO expects to buy more if Korea's carbon trading system is reformed, for example, considering the introduction of carbon neutral LNG as a measure of carbon reduction.