Having made major strides in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, U.S. metal producers—particularly those in the steel and aluminum industries—are reaching out to researchers at private companies as well as universities to provide the inventive thinking and technological know-how to significantly shrink their carbon footprint. While the ultimate objective is developing a breakthrough technology to tame GHG emission, evolutionary interim approaches delivering steady improvements would help bridge the GHG gap until step-change technologies are commercialized

While much of this research is being funded by Washington through such initiatives as the Energy Department's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), other research is being underwritten either by industry trade associations like the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) or by individual companies.

The main driver for research to date has been cost-reduction efforts keyed to cutting energy consumption, which in turn would reduce emissions, according to Harry S. Kurek, senior engineer for the End Use Solutions Group of the...