1. Background and purpose

Toward the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, METI decided to develop a Green Innovation Fund at a level of 2 trillion yen under the FY2020 Tertiary Supplementary Budget as part of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Based on specific goals shared by the public and private sectors, the plan is to continuously provide support over the coming ten years to companies and other organizations that show commitment to working toward this ambitious goal as a business challenge. The support will assist efforts ranging from research and development (R&D) to demonstrations to social implementation of the outcomes.

In order to ensure the proper and efficient execution of the fund, the Committee on the Green Innovation Project under the Industrial Structure Council finalized the Policy for Allocation of Funds for Each Field. Based on this policy, field-specific working groups established under the Committee deliberate on things such as the priority and appropriateness of the amount to be implemented by the fund for each project. Then, the divisions and offices in charge of the project at the responsible ministries and agencies formulate the content of each project as an "R&D and Social Implementation Plan," and start calling for applicants sequentially.

Today, METI formulated the R&D and Social Implementation Plan for "hydrogen utilization in iron and steelmaking processes" projects based on discussions at the Working Group on the Field of Energy Structure Transformation and the public opinions that were submitted.

2. Main contents of the R&D and Social Implementation Plan for "hydrogen utilization in iron and steelmaking processes" projects

• Aim to decarbonize blast furnaces by developing technology for reducing iron ore with hydrogen, and for using the generated CO2 as a reducing agent, etc.
• Aim to manufacture high-quality steel in a direct hydrogen reduction furnace by developing technology for directly reducing iron ore with hydrogen, and for removing impurities using electric arc furnaces.

3. Future plans

NEDO will open a call for applicants for the "hydrogen utilization in iron and steelmaking processes" projects soon.

Related document

• R&D and Social Implementation Plan for the "Hydrogen Utilization in Iron and Steelmaking Processes" Projects (Outline)

Division in Charge

• [About the fund in general]

  Carbon Neutrality Project Promotion Office, Environmental Policy Division, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau

• [About the details of the project]

  Metal Industries Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau
  Metal Industry Technology Office, Metal Industries Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau