Iron and steel production alone is responsible for around 7% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. That is much. However, researchers believe that modernizing steel mills would improve this footprint. Spectacular!
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In 2021, researchers at the University of Colorado (USA) showed that by modernizing even 5% of the world’s coal-fired power plants, we could significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in this sector. Good news. However, this is only slowly coming to fruition.
But today, researchers at University College London (UK) publish a study in the journal Nature that raises hope for decarbonizing another sector. That of the steel industry. Because the production of iron and steel is expensive in terms of carbon. The steel industry is responsible for up to 7% of global CO2 emissions. Especially because as recently as 2019, three quarters of the world’s factories were powered by coal, still the same fossil fuel that is known to emit significant amounts of CO2 when burned.
How much could steel factories reduce their CO2 emissions?
The researchers examined nearly 5,000 steel mills around the world. Their technical characteristics, location, processing technologies, operational details, status and age. Assessing the CO2 emissions gains we can hope to achieve from modernizing these iron and steel production facilities. And the numbers are dizzying!
To understand this, you need to know that steel factories are generally renovated every 15 to 30 years – depending on the techniques used and the age of the factories – to extend their lifespan. These operations are expensive and time-consuming. So why not take advantage of the opportunity to integrate low-emission technologies into factories, especially in these times? Researchers asked themselves the question. And if everyone played along, researchers assure that the sector’s emissions could be reduced by 58.7 gigatonnes (Gt) by 2050. This is equivalent to two years of net CO2 emissions worldwide. The study even shows that if the modernization measures were brought forward by just five years, the gain would be in the order of 69.6 Gt!
Steelworks should be modernized as a priority
By modernizing existing factories and improving the collection and recycling of their waste, the steel sector can significantly reduce its CO2 emissions. By using production means based on a type of oxygen blast furnace, 74% of the reduction in CO2 emissions announced for the entire sector could already be achieved. Because these factories produce around 63% of the world’s steel.
Nevertheless, researchers emphasize that the steel sector is characterized by considerable complexity and diversity of production methods. Therefore, in general, each factory needs to plan the details of its decarbonization measures according to its specificities.
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The researchers also find that the five steel factories that emit the most CO2 alone contribute 7% of the global steel industry’s total emissions. Even if they only make up 0.1% of the factories. They are mainly located in China. And the researchers believe that modernizing these factories to reduce their carbon emissions would demonstrate the feasibility of this type of operation in other similar factories.