Net Zero Industry Tracker 2024 Steel

Performance The sector currently accounts for 7% of global CO2e emissions. Emissions are mainly driven by the heavy use of fossil fuels in the energy-intensive production process, which account for around 75% of the current fuel mix. Steel industry performance TABLE 10 In the 2019-2023 period, demand increased by 1.2% while emission intensity increased by 0.6%. The increase in emission intensity is primarily due to the increase in steel production in high-emission regions. For example, steel production saw an increase in China, which continues to rely heavily on the more emission-intensive BF-BOF processes. India also saw an increase in steel production, where coal is the primary source of energy, leading to higher emissions per unit of steel produced. There are three established methods of steel production currently in use, with varying levels of energy intensity (and hence emissions intensity). The most common production route is BF-BOF, which is used for 72% of global steel production, followed by scrap steel-EAF (scrap-EAF), which constitutes 21% of global steel production, and DRI-EAF, which constitutes 7% of global steel production. The energy intensity of BF-BOF and DRI-EAF processes is around 22-2023 gigajoules per tonne (GJ/t) of steel, while for scrap-EAF it is less than half (around 10 GJ/t), which is a key reason for its lower emissions intensity.312 The BF-BOF process emits 2.3 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel, whereas the scrap-EAF process emits only 0.7 tonnes and the DRI-EAF process emits 1.4 tonnes.313 The steelmaking process varies across regions, with China and India mainly using the BF-BOF process with coal as primary fuel, the EU using BF-BOF with advanced BF technologies to lower emissions intensity, and the US having the highest share of scrap-EAF steel production and thus the lowest emissions intensity globally. Coal has been the dominant fuel used in the steel production process and has consistently contributed to around 75% of the fuel mix for the last five years. Thus, there is a need for technologies that can replace coal power with renewable and low- emission fuels. For example, blast furnaces could be coupled with bioenergy and carbon capture and storage, which is known as BF-BOF with BECCS.Performance metric Change (2019-2023) Industry output +1.2%309 Emission intensity +0.6%310 Total CO2e emissions +1.8%311 4 Net-Zero Industry Tracker: 2024 Edition