The government will provide 150 billion won ($138 million) in support of developing the hydrogen reduction steel-making method, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy revealed Thursday.

The funds, which the ministry estimates will cover 54 percent of development costs, will be provided from 2012 if the studies under way now show the project to be feasible, the ministry said.

In hydrogen reduction steel making, hydrogen is used instead of coal in the smelting process resulting in water being produced as a byproduct rather than carbon dioxide.

In addition, the ministry said 30 steel products will be selected for focused research and development projects to raise the standard of related technologies to that of Japanese products.

(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)