“Through its activities, the (group) aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero in sea transportation, which accounts for 99.6% of Japanese imports and exports, and thereby contribute to the formation of a sustainable society,” the companies said in a statement. 

The effort brings together the steelmakers and a number of representatives of Japan’s maritime industry. Japan has the world’s third-largest merchant fleet, which, like the steel industry, is moving to reduce its carbon footprint, according to the industry publication Splash. 

The companies said that through the effort, they intend to explore a process called called methanation. 

“Methanation is a technology for synthesizing methane, the main component in natural gas, by causing a chemical reaction between hydrogen and CO₂ in a reactor vessel filled with a catalyst,” they explained. 

“It uses emitted CO₂ separated and captured from industrial facilities. As the CO₂ generated when combusting synthesized methane is considered to be offset by the separated and captured CO₂, it is expected that CO₂ emissions can be significantly reduced by using hydrogen generated by electrolyzing water with electricity derived from renewable energy.”