Steel Mills

USS signs deal for carbon capture at Gary Works

April 3, 2024

In a first-of-its-kind project, U.S. Steel will soon begin capturing carbon emissions from its blast furnaces at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker on Wednesday announced an agreement to utilize San Antonio-based “CarbonFree’s SkyCycle technology to capture and mineralize up to 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.”

The technology will convert carbon emissions into a carbon-neutral version of calcium carbonate, the two companies said in a joint statement. CarbonFree will also utilize steelmaking slag for the calcium carbonate production process.

The companies said this will be the first commercial-scale carbon capture utilization plant at a North American steel plant.

“The project is the first step in exploring the scalability of this technology for potential future implementation across the enterprise,” the statement said.

Construction on the project is expected to begin this summer, and operations are slated to begin in 2026.

A CarbonFree spokesperson told SMU its projected investment for the project is approximately $150 million.

“U.S. Steel will provide the utility, sewer, and data connections needed for the facility. U.S. Steel will also be responsible for connecting [its] blast furnace gas header system to the SkyCycle plant,” a USS spokesperson told SMU in an email.

U.S. Steel has four operating blast furnaces at Gary Works, according to SMU’s blast furnace status table.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.