Elkem, an international manufacturer of silicon-based materials and carbon solutions, today announced their plans to build a renewable biocarbon pilot plant in Canada, with the future goal to scale up production for use in the steel industry.

According to a company press release, the plant will be built in Chicoutimi, Que., Canada. The NOK 180 million (approximately US$20 million) project has secured partial financial backing from national, provincial and local governments.

The plant will use recycled raw materials from local sawmills to create climate-neutral biocarbon, which can replace fossil coal as a reduction agent.

While the pilot plant will produce biocoal for Elkem’s silicon and ferrosilicon manufacturing, the company envisions the use of this technology on a larger scale within the steel industry as a replacement for metallurgical coke. The company is currently seeking industry partners to help with this expansion effort.

“Studies have shown that biocarbon can perform even better than fossil coal in production, and at the same time reduce the carbon footprint. Still, challenges remain to make biocarbon viable at a large scale,” said Jean Villeneuve, Elkem's head of Biocarbon Business. “I am confident that Elkem's new biocarbon pilot plant in Canada will help us solve these challenges, by enabling close cooperation between people at all levels of the organization. … Together, we can accelerate a sustainable step-change that is both economically viable and good for the environment.”

Elkem plans to begin construction in the latter half of 2020.

You can learn more about the new pilot project here.