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The steel sector, which is accountable for an estimated 7-9 per cent of global carbon emissions, has set its sights on decarbonisation, having already reached its first technological breakthrough. While greening this high-carbon-intensity commodity is no easy feat, its progress could provide a blueprint for other comparable commodities.
This is how the steel industry is forging a path to net-zero The modern world is built from steel – 1.8 gigatons (Gt) were produced last year, 90% of all metal produced globally. From wind turbines to electric vehicles, steel will be an integral enabler of the energy transition. But steel production is a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most steel is still made using coal to reduce iron ore, a process that emits roughly two metric tons of CO2 per ton of steel. The industry accounts for 7% of global GHG emissions from the energy system – equal to global aviation, shipping an...
Ambitious targets to reach net-zero The good news is that a revolution in steel production is now within reach. Major steel-producing countries, including China, Japan, the EU and now the US, have set ambitious targets to reach net-zero economies. Achieving them demands not just further material efficiency, greater recycling of scrap steel and continued process efficiency; it will take a shift to radically different zero-emissions primary (ore-based) steelmaking. A range of solutions – from replacing coal with green hydrogen as a reducing agent, to carbon capture and storage or use (CCS/U),...