Steel and Climate Protection

Article by Hans Fischer, Executive Board Steel at Salzgitter AG

Today, everyone’s talking about resources - and energy efficiency is high on the agenda. Day after day, news programs, talk shows and reports feature climate protection topics. The issues at hand include, for example, reducing the emissions budget as part of carbon trading, the alleged lack of awareness in the automotive industry or bans on energy-hungry light bulbs.

The steel industry is right at the center of this irreversible discussion and development process. On the one hand, there is a general concern about the CO₂ emissions from our manufacturing processes. On the other hand, it is essential to focus on the tremendous contribution our steels make to increasing our customers’ energy efficiency.

In Germany alone, materials such as ore and scrap, reducing agents and energy determine up to three quarters of the cash costs for steel production. This inevitably leads to a sustained, economic incentive at all corporate levels to use resources as sparingly as possible in the manufacture of steel. In this way, for example, iron efficiency has been increased to a present 90 percent.

Materials innovations in the automotive sector

Does this mean, however, that the steel industry no longer feels obliged to further enhance resource and energy efficiency in its own production processes in view of the successes achieved to date? My answer to this question is no. For us, the question of efficiency is also an indicator of innovation. For example, let’s take a look at the continuing successes in materials innovations for the automotive industry. Today, production at our Salzgitter location of higher and maximum strength steel grades for the automotive industry makes a significant contribution towards climate protection: we have shown that the development and use of these steels compensates for a good 15 percent of those process-linked production emissions which cannot be further reduced.

Steel is part of the solution and not the problem

In connection with climate protection debates, the tremendous potential that steel products hold stands out. Thanks to our developments in the field of near-net-shape casting, for example, we are able to offer the automotive industry new steel grades that open up considerable additional scope for lightweight vehicle construction. In view of such contributions, it becomes readily evident that – within the context of the climate-protection debate - steel is not so much a part of the problem, but represents an innovative element in boosting the resource and energy efficiency of our economy. In future, the companies to take the lead will be those that excel in developing and harnessing the skills and knowledge of their employees in the field of resource efficiency. Performance-improvement programs and company suggestion schemes have revealed that almost one third of ensuing effects are related to resource and energy consumption. The knowledge-based networking of processes and products is the only way of coming to terms with climate change.

The networking of products and processes is essential

Hysteria and stoking fears will certainly not solve the problems at hand. However, one-dimensional approaches, such as restricting highly efficient production by emissions trading, will not bring us any closer to achieving our objectives either. On a global level, we will only succeed by providing emerging economies with technically intelligent solutions, thereby helping them to shape their economic growth in a resource and energy-efficient manner.
Aerial view of the steel works