IEA Publishes Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap published by the IEA outlines the challenges likely to be faced by the sector over the coming decades. The need to uphold sustainability amidst rising competitive environment presents big challenge to the sector. The report explores innovative technologies and strategies that will help the sector reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.

In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, the iron and steel sector is ranked first among heavy industries. The sector directly accounts for 2.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum. The industry needs to embrace targeted measures to reduce emissions, despite a higher share of less energy-intensive secondary steel production. Incidentally, the global steel demand is projected to increase by more than a third by 2050.

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The global crude steel production capacity has more than doubled over the past two decades or so.  The energy and climate goals cannot be achieved by ignoring existing infrastructure. In order to achieve the ambitious goal, the emissions from steel industry should fall by at least 50-60% by 2050, falling from current levels of 1.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of crude steel to nearly 0.6 tonnes per tonne. It is under such circumstances that new steelmaking processes become critical for the industry, IEA notes.