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GS Caltex Expands Low-Carbon Business: Advances South Korea CCUS Cluster, Carbon-Free Steam, Biofuels, and Plastic Recycling

Plastmatch Global Digest 2025-09-29 13:48:08

South Korea's largest refining company, GS Caltex, announced today the comprehensive expansion of its low-carbon business footprint. By constructing the Yeosu CCUS cluster, promoting zero-carbon steam technology, and developing the biofuel and plastic recycling industry chain, the company aims to accelerate its transformation into a sustainable energy service provider.

This initiative aims to address the global energy structure transformation and consolidate its leading position in the traditional refining sector. As a core measure of transformation, GS Caltex is collaborating with companies in the Yeosu Industrial Complex and local government to build the "Yeosu CCUS Cluster". This cluster facilitates the centralized processing of carbon capture resources from multiple companies through shared pipelines, liquefied storage, and transportation facilities. Compared to the single-company independent construction model, cluster-based operation can reduce pipeline construction costs by more than 30% and improve carbon capture efficiency.

Currently, the cluster has entered the substantive construction phase and is expected to be operational by 2026, with an annual carbon sequestration capacity of 5 million tons, equivalent to 2% of South Korea's annual carbon reduction target. In the field of energy substitution, GS Caltex has reached a strategic cooperation with Nanhai Chemical to transform the latter's idle sulfuric acid facilities for the production of carbon-free steam. This technology combines water electrolysis for hydrogen production with biomass gasification, resulting in no carbon dioxide emissions throughout the process. Compared to traditional LNG steam, each ton of carbon-free steam can reduce carbon emissions by 1.4 tons. After the agreement was signed in 2024, equipment modification projects have been initiated, and it is expected to achieve complete replacement of steam supply in the Yeosu Industrial Complex by the end of 2025, with an annual reduction in emissions equivalent to planting 4 million trees.

In the field of biofuels, GS Caltex has completed a full chain layout from R&D to commercialization. In terms of aviation fuel, the company successfully conducted six test flights of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in 2023 and achieved the export of SAF products certified under the International Civil Aviation Organization's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to Narita Airport in Japan. Starting from December 2024, CORSIA SAF produced using co-processing technology has been stably supplied to domestic airlines in South Korea, with a carbon intensity reduced by 80% compared to traditional jet fuel.

In terms of marine fuel, the company completed South Korea's first bio-marine fuel bunkering test in September 2023. The related products have been certified by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and have officially entered the commercial sales stage. In the field of plastic circular economy, GS Caltex is simultaneously advancing chemical recycling and mechanical recycling technologies.

In the field of chemical recycling, the company employs pyrolysis technology to convert mixed waste plastics into cracking oil that meets refining raw material standards, with an annual processing capacity of 100,000 tons. The mechanical recycling business started in 2010, producing composite resins that are widely used in automotive bumpers, household appliance casings, and other components, reducing the carbon footprint by 40% compared to virgin plastic products. Currently, the company is collaborating with Seoul University to develop enzymatic plastic recycling technology, with the goal of achieving industrial application by 2027.

GS Caltex President Heo Seong-hong stated, "This business expansion is a crucial move in the company's 'deep transformation' strategy. By integrating our traditional refining and chemical strengths with emerging low-carbon technologies, we will not only achieve carbon neutrality in our operations but also build a low-carbon energy supply chain covering East Asia." According to the company's financial report, the aforementioned low-carbon business is expected to increase its revenue contribution to 35% before 2030, becoming a new engine for the company's growth.

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GS Caltex Expands Low-Carbon Business: Advances South Korea CCUS Cluster, Carbon-Free Steam, Biofuels, and Plastic Recycling

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