Mainpower, Main LCA, Net Zero Challenge

The Zero Net Emissions Challenge

In 2021 the world’s CO₂ emissions were 36.3 Bt. Production of steel is responsible for over 10% of global CO₂ emissions with the emissions per tonne of crude steel being 1.89 t.

Achieving emissions intensity targets for the world steel industry will be very challenging. The overall 2030 target for the steel industry, just to stay on the 1.5C trajectory, requires overall reductions of around 30% from current 2022 levels, and 80% by 2050.

Key steel-producing companies Baowu Steel, HBIS and Baotou Steel, which together account for 17% of China’s total production aim to peak emissions well before 2025, significantly reduce emissions by 30% by 2030, and become net-zero by 2050.

Three-quarters of global steel capacity is located in countries that have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 or 2060. Additionally, major steel companies, such as ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel, POSCO and others, some of which operate plants in countries without carbon neutrality pledges, have committed to being carbon neutral by 2050.

Opportunities for Reducing Emissions

The reduction in emission intensity of steel production is expected to come largely from improvements in materials efficiency, technology performance and implementation of new technologies based on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS), hydrogen, bioenergy, electrolysis etc.

New technology must be deployed at a blistering pace, with new infrastructure to boot. While a smooth transition to scrap-based production is possible as economies start to mature and scrap availability increases (e.g. China), a rapid roll-out of technologies that are currently in the early stages of development will need to accompany this shift. The deployment of one hydrogen-based DRI plant per month is required globally following the market introduction of the technology. This raises electricity demand by an equivalent to 60% of the sector’s total electricity consumption today. The concurrent deployment of CCUS-equipped plants requires around 0.4 Gt CO₂ capture globally by 2050, equivalent to the deployment of a large CCUS installation (1 million tonnes of CO₂ capture per year) every 2–3 weeks from 2030.

The Need for Life Cicle Assessment in the Steel Industry

Given government commitments and community expectations, steel producers find themselves under increased pressure to respond to climate change. Significant reductions in CO₂ emissions are required, some of which will be achieved by the development and introduction of new technologies, more likely post-2030. In the medium term, up to 2030, the necessary reduction in GHG will have to come from improvements in process and materials efficiencies, as well as optimisation of the total life cycle steel production chain, from iron ore extraction to iron and steelmaking, product use and recycling.

From a steelmaker's perspective, in addition to their own process efficiencies and emissions, having an in-depth understanding of the complete steel lifecycle chain and interaction between the different life cycle stages will become crucial in targeted cost-effective and meaningful emission reductions. Having an LCA of “cradle to steelworks gate” has become an important step and pre-condition towards achieving these significant emission reductions.

"A life cycle approach is the only way to establish the true environmental performance of any given product. An LCA ensures that improvements in one life cycle phase do not result in unintended consequences in another phase or impact category." *

*worldsteel.org -Life cycle assessment in the steel industry; Public policy paper