logo: Worldsteel Association

16 Dec 09 | Christmas | A sustainable steel industry

Ian Christmas delivered this presentation at an industry panel briefing during the COP-15 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark on 16 December 2009. A PDF version of the PowerPoint file is available for download at the bottom of the page.

Key facts –worldsteel today

  • Headquarters in Brussels, second office in Beijing.
  • 156 members:
  • 59 Regular (production > 1.8 mmt)
  • 46 Associate (production < 1.8 mmt)
  • 51 Affiliate (Regional and National Associations and Steel Research Institutes)
  • Membership HQs are located in 47 countries.

  • 19 of the world's 20 largest companies are members.

  • worldsteel members produce around 85%of the world’s steel.

Steel in a modern world

  • Steel is essential for sustainable development

  • Steel is key to infrastructure, energy delivery, transportation, housing, construction and vital consumer goods

  • >40% of steel is internationally traded

  • >50% of today’s production is in developing countries and the figure is growing

  • Energy-intensive (~ 1.9 t CO2/t)

  • Common technology –freely available.

Principles of our approach to climate reduction

  • To have the greatest impact on the problem –substantive reduction in global emissions

  • All major steel producing countries are engaged in this process

  • We should work within the UNFCCC framework

  • Respect principle of common but differentiated responsibilities

  • Avoid market and competition distortions

  • 4 building blocksinvolves actions by the industry and policy implications for governments.

Commitment to reduce CO2/t

  • CO2/t is an intensity measure which is common to all steel producing countries

  • Every steel company needs to know its current footprint to enable it to identify improvement potential

  • We now have common methodology, definitions and boundaries agreed

  • Similar and comparable to APP data collection

  • 3 process routes: BF/BOS, EAF, DRI/EAF

  • Distinction between Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Data Collection System

  • Site-by-site

  • Strictly confidential -(not disclosed to competitors)

  • Open to all steel companies -(not just worldsteel members)

  • 2/3rdworldsteel members already collected

  • Reporting by region and national associations

  • Benchmarking -> target setting

  • Global coverage
    (9 countries >90% total emissions globally).

Technology Transfer

  • Promotion of current best practice worldwide in medium-term

  • Drawing on lessons from APP programmes

  • Some of the best plants in the world are in developing countries

  • Maximisation of scrap recycling. Steel is 100% recyclable and steel created 100 years ago can be recycled today and used in new products and applications

  • Technology is freely available through the internet and best practise handbooks.

Policies to assist Technology Transfer

  • CDMs or other financial incentives which do not distort fair competition

  • Adoption of APP-type approach

  • Identification of barriers to adoption of best practice.

Breakthrough Technology

  • Radical lower CO2/t technologies need to be researched and developed

  • Carbon capture and storage needs to be developed

  • Major R&D programmes by steel industries

  • Pilot plants

  • Major new investments in new technology after 2020

Policies to support R&D

  • Major expenditure (hundreds of millions of dollars) on long-term breakthrough technology cannot be supported by industry alone and also requires government funding

  • Already major support in EU and Japan

Steel Solutions

  • The most important contribution of steel will be in reducing the carbon footprint of all aspects of the economy:

    • Transport, rail and shipping
    • Construction and housing
    • energy generation (wind turbines etc)
    • Consumer goods and electrical motors
    • Automotive
    • Infrastructure and bridges.

Policies to promote Energy Efficiency in Society

  • Use of LCA approach

  • Building codes

  • Promotion of use of steel by-product (slags) in cement and aggregates

  • Vehicle fuel efficiency targets

Why LCA is key

  • There is an increasing focus on Life Cycle Thinking and Life Cycle Analysis in legislation and voluntary initiatives

  • Determine the true holistic impact of products and services on the environment over its full life

  • Avoid ‘shifting the burden’from one phase to another

  • Used as an aid in material choice in product design

  • Provide steel industry data to customer requests

  • To determine the areas for greatest environmental improvement potential

  • Is particularly appropriate for global issues such as climate change.
Copenhagen December 2009.pdf
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