Energy Business
Tue, Oct 11
Tariq Siddiqui
Tariq Siddiqui
Top Contributor
·Posted in Energy Business

Pedal to the metal: iron and steel’s US$1.4 trillion shot at decarbonisation

SOBERING CHALLENGE

  1. 50 mtpa of Green hydrogen priced at $2/kg

  2. Switching to clean energy requires 2000 GW of dedicated renewable power (2/3 of current total capacity)
  3. High-grade iron ore consumption will have to increase five fold to 750 million tonnes.
  4. Transitioning to greener feedstock will require a doubling of the global scrap pool from current levels to 1.3 billion tonnes (entailing recovery rates of more than 80%).
  5. The industry will need to capture and store 470 Mt of carbon to reach its emission target.

REQUIRES TREMENDOUS INVESTMENTS

What Should Steel makers Do?

  1. Resource efficiency: blend more scrap, ferro-coke, high-grade raw materials and biomass into existing steelmaking
  2. Energy efficiency: top-gas recycling, heat recovery, invest in renewable energy
  3. Optimisation of current and new fleets of furnaces: replace archaic ones with new technology, such as smelting reduction
  4. Blend green hydrogen with gas for iron making until it reaches commercial scale.