On April 12, the Paulson Institute and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) co-hosted a technology workshop in Beijing focused on how advanced technologies in existing projects in China can be adopted in the Jing-Jin-Jin (JJJ) region’s iron and steel industries to help reduce emissions and support China’s transformation to a high-innovation, low-carbon economy.
Attending the workshop were experts from two international companies – LanzaTech and United Technologies Corporation – including some who were visiting China to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Commerce Joint Business Development Mission entitled “Smart Cities – Smart Growth.” The Chinese participants were representatives from the Tangshan and Hebei Environmental Protection Bureaus and iron and steel industry officials from the JJJ region.
The group met to discuss the environmental challenges facing the iron and steel sectors in the JJJ region and explore how advanced technologies can provide best practices and potential solutions for the region’s struggle with pollution from emissions and transformation of heavy industry. The participants discussed at length the LanzaTech project – a joint venture with Beijing Shougang in Hebei’s Caofeidian – which is proving that carbon from the waste gas of steel production can be recycled into biofuels, reducing emissions and creating new revenue for steel mills.
Technology workshops like this are one way that the Paulson Institute and CCIEE work together to connect U.S. and Chinese representatives to better understand environmental opportunities and needs, and help identify potential areas for collaboration.
