Keeping a steel industry in Europe while reducing its CO2 emissions very substantially is a major challenge. CCS may be part of the solution but no-one is going to make an investment on the scale needed without having answers to questions vital to determining the business case.

A pilot carbon capture unit now in operation at a blast furnace at the ArcelorMittal Gent plant in Belgium may provide the information required.

The intention is to assess over the next year or two:
- The extent to which the equipment may be corroded through its operation
- The degradation of the amine solvent used, and ways of reducing this
- Energy requirements for all aspects of the operation
- CO2 quality after capture, including the level of contaminants and what will be required to reduce these

Decarbonising with CCS may prove less expensive than alternatives such as the use of hydrogen, but for the European steel industry the bigger issue may be whether it will be possible to make the investment and still be able to survive in a competition with Chinese and other producers paying much less for energy and doing less to reduce emissions. There is no great confidence that the CBAM will create a level playing field.

In which case the future of the European industry depends on politics not on technology.