Photo courtesy of ResponsibleSteel: Anne-Claire Howard, CEO of ResponsibleSteel, standing at left, presents site standard certificates to executives with ArcelorMittal.
The steel industry is deploying an array of partnerships and technologies in clean energy, efficiency advances and novel production techniques as it works toward carbon neutrality.
Steel mills are migrating part of their energy consumption from coal and fossil-fuel-based electricity to solar, wind and other renewable sources. Their efforts involve a “holistic transformation of some production processes and preparations for commercially viable ‘green hydrogen’ systems,” says Fastmarkets.com, a website representing the Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC group.
ResponsibleSteel partners pledge to achieve carbon neutrality
In July, ResponsibleSteel™, the steel industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative, announced the world’s first certified steelmaking sites — four certificates for four sites in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg owned by ArcelorMittal.
“The ResponsibleSteel Standard was created by the steel sector’s only truly global multi stakeholder initiative. The current Standard gives business and consumers confidence that the site at which the steel is being produced is operated responsibly,” said Anne-Claire Howard, chief executive officer of ResponsibleSteel, in a prepared news release. “The next phase in our journey, Certified Steel, will further reassure business and consumers that the steel they use has been not only produced responsibly but also sourced responsibly at every stage of its journey.”
Anne-Claire Howard, CEO of ResponsibleSteel
To gain ResponsibleSteel certification, a steelmaker must have a corporate commitment to meeting the United Nations’ 2016 Paris Agreement and an action plan for the certified site to meet the standards, Howard says.
Steel is the world’s largest materials industry. Steel generates a turnover of $1 trillion dollars and is 10 times larger than the aluminum industry, more than 7 times larger than the copper industry and 4 times larger than the cement industry, the ResponsibleSteel website says.
An April 2021 U.S. Steel press release, announcing the company’s membership in ResponsibleSteel, quotes Howard saying that, from mine to end product, the steel industry is responsible for more than 7% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. U. S. Steel has nearly 10% of global steel production, Howard says.
Also in April, U. S. Steel pledged to achieve carbon neutrality in accordance with the Paris Agreement by 2050.
Kevin Dempsey, president and chief executive officer of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), said companies including US Steel Corp, SSAB Americas, Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor Corp are in the midst of projects to reduce their carbon footprint, initially focusing on solar panels, wind energy and other non-fossil-fuel sources, Fastmarkets says.
According to AISI data, the steel industry saves enough energy through steel recycling programs to supply the annual electricity needs of more than 18 million homes. A single ton of steel recycled conserves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.
Green hydrogen technology, which is still in development and has yet to be commercialized, starts with water and releases oxygen rather than carbon into the atmosphere. Fastmarkets says large steel companies are waiting for the cost of the “green” version to come down in price, but consider it a viable alternative in the pursuit of net-zero carbon emissions.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Steel
Finished steel coils at the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant, part of the Mon Valley Works.
Steel framing offers many sustainability benefits
As for the construction market specifically, AISI reports:
- Steel framing contains a minimum of 25% recycled steel and is continually and completely recyclable — that is, “remade without any loss of quality”
- In contrast, most other construction products can only be down-cycled into lower-quality products
- While construction sites may have large amounts of construction waste to dispose, steel framing minimizes that problem since it can be easily recycled responsibly and “can become tomorrow’s refrigerator, soup can or car door”
As a building material, steel can meet the sustainability requirements in standards such as the International Green Construction Code, and in green building rating systems like U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), where steel products can help earn points toward LEED v4 certification.
AISI further reports that life cycle assessments (LCAs) comparing steel-framed buildings to wood-framed buildings in different parts of the country “have demonstrated that steel buildings can result in lower environmental impacts than functionally-equivalent wood buildings.”
A peer-reviewed study comparing hot-dip galvanized (HDG) steel coils produced in North America and used in construction, among other sectors, revealed North American steel coil to be 50% lower in GHG emissions versus the same product produced in China and shipped to North America.
The Chinese will be influential in the global decarbonization process, Fastmarkets says, since about half of the world’s steel originates in that country.
Additional Resources
- How to Earn Green by Going Green With Cold-Formed Steel
- Infographic: The True Sustainability of Steel in Numbers
- EQ Metal Studs Help Designers Build Sustainable Structures