Decarbonising the Stainless Steel Industry

As one of the most widely used materials in engineering and construction, stainless steel is essential to modern society. The steel industry is currently one of the three largest producers of carbon emissions and action must be taken to reduce these as the world seeks to achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

For each ton of steel produced, an average of 1.85 tons of carbon dioxide is emitted: this equates to around 8% of carbon dioxide emissions globally. Reducing this amount across the steel value chain will require co-operation between end-users, steel producers, mining companies and policymakers.

There have been many methods proposed to help solve the challenge of achieving a decarbonised steel value chain, including advances in mining technology, increased use of hydrogen-based steelmaking and technologies that will enable the capture and/or utilisation of carbon. Existing feedstocks and processes will also have to be thoroughly examined and optimised wherever possible.

In addition to new technical solutions, the design of finance and policy models will have to be considered. Coordination across the globe at every step of the process from mine to market is required, with every organisation involved being fully aware of both the opportunities and risks that decarbonisation will present to their operations.

Established in 1969, CRU is the leading authority across the steel value chain and, through consultancy, price assessments and market analysis provides the world with unmatched business intelligence. From June 29th to May 1st, CRU will present the first Steel Decarbonisation Strategies 2021 Virtual Conference, which will bring together consumers, financiers, policy makers and other professionals from across the global steel supply chain.

The conference is designed to 'define the green steel challenge', providing opportunities for debate and discussion about the challenges involved with decarbonisation and the decisions that need to be made. Attendees will work together to identify existing solutions and understand the financial and policy support that will be necessary to implement them.

Though carbon emissions are a problem in the production of stainless steel, the material offers two major advantages: namely, the long-term service life it provides in comparison to other steels and the fact that it can be infinitely recycled.

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