Report: Pathways to a low-carbon iron and steel industry in the medium-term – the case of Germany

The iron and steel industry is a major industrial emitter of carbon dioxide globally and in Germany. If European and German climate targets were set as equal proportional reduction targets (referred to here as “flat” targets) among sectors, the German steel industry would have to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions from about 60 million metric tons currently to 28–34 million metric tons by 2030. Technical options to further reduce CO2 that are based on existing production processes are limited. Hence, in the future, the CO2 emissions of the steel industry could be reduced by alternative and new production processes and variations in production levels. This paper describes four production pathways from 2015 to 2035 that reveal the impact of constant, increasing and decreasing production levels as well as different production processes.

Resource: Pathways to a low-carbon iron and steel industry in the medium-term – the case of Germany

Author: Marlene Arens, Ernst Worrell, Wolfgang Eichhammer, Ali Hasanbeigi, Qi Zhang, 2015