STEEL & CLIMATE: Production Methods, GHG Emissions Etc

STEEL & CLIMATE: production methods, GHG emissions etc.

9/6/20 version Short link: www.bit.ly/steelandclimate (GHG: Greenhouse gas emissions)

A collation of notes, references, links etc by Henry Adams [email protected] @henryadamsUK with help from contributors. Reason for collation: assessing the myth of a [false] “need” for UK to mine its own coking coal – at Whitehaven, Cumbria, which would result in huge CO2e emissions, equivalent to over 1 million British citizens according to Dr Stuart Parkinson of SGR. (For more on this issue: SGR pdf here, SLACC pdf here)

Coking coal: how much is it “needed” for steel-making over the coming years? In the UK: likely to decrease to little or none in the near future, if the UK’s last 2 remaining blast furnace sites (Scunthorpe & Port Talbot) fail to survive economic pressures, or else they survive and adapt to emission-reduction requirements.

Are there lower-carbon-intensity alternative methods that don’t require coking coal? YES.

Why we must consider and compare the GHG emissions from different methods of steel production: 1. “Global carbon emissions from iron and steel production are currently around 2.8 Gt per annum, about 8% of global energy system emissions.” (quote from Reaching zero carbon emissions from Steel – 2018 Consultation Paper by the [global] ENERGY TRANSITIONS COMMISSION - ETC) The Carbon Trust state: “The world’s consumption of iron and steel drives around 6% of global GHG emissions.” [pdf]. More charts: 2. The UK steel industry produced 25% of the GHG emissions from UK industry according to Griffin et al. (2016): See pie chart → BEIS: UK “Industrial Process” emissions: 10.0 MtCO2e in 2018 [pdf] 3. Different methods of steel production differ hugely in their emissions. See REINVENT histogram of Carbon Intensities of various methods↘ And see histogram on next page which is clearer but bigger. Thus there is huge scope for emissions reduction. “The ETC is confident that a complete de-carbonization of the [global] steelmaking industry is achievable by mid- century.” (same ETC reference). The UK can do better. 4. The world needs to halve its emissions by 2030 to have a minimal chance of keeping global average temperature increase to below +1.5 degrees C (simplified from IPCC Special report for 1.5 degrees 2018). This means more than half a reduction for wealthiest- ranking countries which rank high for their cumulative CO2e emissions, such as the UK (ranking 5th for both these attributes, or to 6th re wealth). Thus a Net zero target by or before 2030 for the UK is preferable.

SUMMARY We now in the UK have only 2 sites that use coking coal for making steel (i.e. using blast furnaces): Port Talbot (Tata) and Scunthorpe (British Steel), and Sandbag states that these are UK’s 2 largest point-source carbon emitters (even larger than Drax power station). They are also becoming increasingly uneconomic, and will in this coming decade face closure unless they commit to adapt to shifting to much lower carbon methods. Other countries e.g. Sweden are trialling fossil-free near-zero carbon emissions methods for producing virgin steel from iron ore (using hydrogen). However the UK also produces steel by Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF’s) from recycled scrap steel: EAF’s don’t need coking coal. But UK is behind other European countries in using recycled steel, and sadly exports a lot of its old steel for recycling elsewhere. In fact: (to ‘RECYCLING STEEL’ section)

[I’m presuming the emissions shown for BOF include the BF blast furnace emissions as part of the BF-BOF integrated system] Copied from Reaching zero carbon emissions from Steel – 2018 Consultation Paper by the [global] ENERGY TRANSITIONS COMMISSION http://energy-transitions.org/sites/default/files/ETC_Consultation_Paper_-_Steel.pdf “The ETC is confident that a complete decarbonization of the steelmaking industry is achievable by mid-century.”

RECYCLING STEEL

“The UK exported 9.4Mt of scrap steel in 2017,8 which could have been recycled here, had the British industry invested more in this technology” – Dr Stuart Parkinson referring to WSA Yearbook. This is more than the steel UK produces per year (c. 7Mt), and is about 80% of UK’s scrap steel - according to the Guardian’s Fiona Harvey in her article referring to the report by Professor Julian Allwood et al. ‘Steel Arising’. (Details further below)

“The UK currently exports roughly the same tonnage of scrap as it re-imports as new steel, a balance Liberty House is looking to change.” - Steve Edwards (Liberty Steel, Liberty House Group). He also refers to Prof Julian Allwood at Cambridge www.uselessgroup.org who “makes the case that we have already built enough primary steel plants (using coal) and that increased recycling through electric arc furnaces [EAF’s] powered by renewables ultimately takes steel to zero CO2.” – End comments in 14aug18 Chris Goodall: How much of the UK's emissions are nearly impossible to decarbonise? https://www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2018/8/14/how-much-of-the-uks-emissions-are- nearly-impossible-to-decarbonise who advocates HYDROGEN from surplus renewable electricity as one solution, e.g. re steel. BTW Sanjeev Gupta started Liberty House while at Cambridge University. He says: “It is a different model to the past, it is a model about recycling steel, rather than making steel. This is, I think, the future of this country [UK] and the future of generations to come, because steel is not a perishable commodity. Once you make it, it stays with you forever; you just have to keep recycling it.” Sanjeev Gupta and the rebirth of the UK steel industry (28feb19) by Nick Peters Also, likely to be uneconomic for UK to import iron ore. [BTW: Gupta also interested in making ev’s]

Recycling steel using EAF’s is indeed the lowest carbon method that the UK can and should urgently expand to replace primary steel-making using coking coal and blast furnaces, and Professor Julian Allwood is an expert in this field. It can be argued that coking coal and blast furnaces are required to produce very high quality strong steels because scrap steel can become contaminated by hard-to-separate copper for example; but improved recycling methods (e.g. removing copper wires from scrap cars) can help resolve this problem. Here is Professor Allwood’s very recent report: May 2019 Steel Arising https://www.uselessgroup.org/outreach/publications/reports/steel-arising “We must move our UK steelmaking industry away from primary jobs, it will lead to world-leading exportable skills and technologies and production towards recycled steel made with sustainable power. This allow us to transform the highly valuable scrap that we currently export green steel model is the only future compatible with our goals for zero at low value, but should be nurturing as a strategic asset. With today's emissions, and the UK with its strong climate policy, mature stocks of grid we can do this with less than half the emissions of making steel steel and great history of innovation in materials science and processing with iron ore and with more renewable power in future this could drop is perfectly placed to be world-leading with a re-thought and much further. ...” ... “Recycling steel produces around a third of the sustainable steel industry. Not only will this create long-term green CO2 emissions of primary steel.” “... the UK currently generates around 10 million tonnes of scrap per year. This is mainly exported ...” ... “Recycling steel in the UK today leads to a reduction in emissions of more than two-thirds compared to global average primary steel...” [Globally:] Total demand will increase, but if most old steel is recycled (in Electric Arc Furnaces) future growth could be met entirely through increased production from scrap.

23may19 Recycling steel could give lifeline to the industry, report says - Vast quantities of carbon would be saved if the UK moved away from primary production – Fiona Harvey. Refers to Prof. Allwood’s work above. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/23/recycling-steel-could-give-lifeline-to-the-industry-report-says … Steel goods last an average of 35 to 40 years before they are scrapped, and the UK generates about 10m tonnes of scrap a year. Currently, about 80% of this is exported for processing to other countries, chiefly Turkey and China. The US, by contrast, meets about half of its demand for steel by recycling. Steel production in the UK is about 7m tonnes a year, or less than half of current demand. Recycling steel could make the UK self-sufficient in steel, as well as providing a new industry, the report says. …

According to World Steel, UK exported 9 million tonnes pa of scrap steel for recycling overseas in 2017 and 2018, more than the 7 million tonnes of crude steel it produced pa in both these years (WSA).

Professor Allwood’s very useful 2016 report: April 2016 UK steel can survive if it transforms itself, say researchers https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/uk-steel-can-survive-if-it-transforms-itself-say-researchers ... “Instead of producing new steel, one option for the UK steel industry is to refocus itself toward recycling steel rather than producing it from scratch” .... Refers and links to: A bright future for UK steel - A strategy for innovation and leadership through up-cycling and integration https://www.cam.ac.uk/system/files/a_bright_future_for_uk_steel_2.pdf Julian M Allwood Copyright ©2016 University of Cambridge First published April 2016

Professor Allwood’s website for The Use Less Group https://www.uselessgroup.org/ provides much useful info.

Globally: (as cf. UK) “The proportion of steel scrap used in crude steel production was 35.5% worldwide last year [2017], while our statistics reveal this share to be 17.8% in China, 55.5% in the EU-28, 72.1% in the USA, 34.2% in Japan, 43% in the Republic of Korea, 80.8% in Turkey and 39.9% in Russia.” To this I add: in the UK (same source), (2.695 / 7.491 mT) = 36.0%. Source: ‘WORLD STEEL RECYCLING IN FIGURES 2013 – 2017’ – Bureau of International Recycling (BIR 2018) Ferrous Division “Steel Scrap – a Raw Material for Steelmaking” https://www.recycling-magazine.com/2018/05/29/bir-9th-edition-of-world-steel-recycling-in-figures/ Although UK’s proportion of steel scrap used in crude steel production is thus very similar to the world average, it is poor as compared with the EU-28, the USA and Turkey, and poor as compared with the UK’s potential if our government were to produce a long-term strategy, complying with climate emissions reductions and with a science-based target for 1.5C and a Net Zero UK.

In the UK scrap steel is added to the Basic Oxygen Furnaces (as well as to EAFs), to an extent that reduces the high carbon intensity of the BF-BOF process of primary steel-making in the UK to its least-worst carbon intensity currently possible (and lower than the world average) – which is a relatively good thing (see Allwood 2019). But it also shows that the UK recycles even less than it could in EAF’s, and World Steel Association data for 2018 shows that only 22% of UK steel was produced in EAFs – against an EU average for EF’s of 42%, with Italy 82%, Spain 66%, Turkey 69%, Mexico 76%, US 68%. [Though beware that these WSA %’s are for EF’s so could include EIF’s as well as EAF’s. In other words Electric Furnaces include Induction furnaces as well as Electric Arc Furnaces, though I understand EAF’s are more common (?). Also be aware that EAF’s are used not just to take scrap but also to take Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) from a primary steel-making process that doesn’t melt the ore and usually uses gas as reducing agent].

Thus the UK recycling of steel in EAFs compares poorly with the EU and elsewhere, which is a shame as regards global carbon emissions, because the UK with its recently decreasing carbon intensity for electricity generation provides a potentially good basis for recycling much more of its own scrap using EAF’s (Allwood points to other changes also required to make this more viable).

Steel production from iron ore in the future (from c.2016) (in more detail further below)

New low to zero carbon fossil-free methods for producing primary aka virgin steel are being developed elsewhere (e.g. Sweden with Finland, Germany) using hydrogen, which converts into H20 not CO2. The HYBRIT project is a good example (pilot plant now under construction - see below for details). The Hybrit project states that iron and steel production accounts for 7% of CO2 emissions globally at present. Hydrogen can reduce that. NB: Best to use H2 from electrolysis using renewable energy, not from methane. ArcelorMittal (with Midrex) and Thyssenkrupp also investigating using hydrogen. For current steel production methods refer to section below.

UK policy and research

29aug19 Creating a Clean Steel Fund: call for evidence – BEIS open consultation https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-clean-steel-fund-call-for-evidence I quote: Summary We’re seeking views on the £250 million Clean Steel Fund, which will support the UK steel sector to move to a decarbonisation pathway compatible with net zero. This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 21 November 2019 Consultation description We’re looking for supporting evidence to help us develop the detailed design of the fund, including on barriers to realising clean steel ambitions, and the opportunities to be gained in overcoming these. The £250 million Clean Fund will support the UK steel sector to: • transition to lower carbon iron and steel production through new technologies and processes, placing the sector on a pathway that is consistent with the UK Climate Change Act (net zero) • maximise longevity and resilience in the UK steel sector by building on longstanding expertise and skills and harnessing clean growth opportunities We also intend to establish a new £100 million Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund, to support the deployment of low carbon hydrogen production at scale. This could enable a pathway to lower carbon steel production and support broader efforts to decarbonise industry. ...

29aug19 LONDON (Reuters) - Britain announced 390 million pounds ($480 million) of spending for low carbon technology on Thursday, most of which will go to the steel industry in a fund to help it reduce emissions. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-britain/britain-to-fund-steel-in-480-million-climate-change-package-idUSKCN1VJ179

In the UK there is grant funding for a collaboration between several universities and industry into low to zero carbon methods of steel-production: In the UK the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has provided a £10 million investment into the “SUSTAIN” research network which includes Universities of Swansea, Warwick and Sheffield, and UK steel industry partners, and aims to transform the UK steel sector to make it “it cleaner, greener and smarter, and more responsive to the fast-changing needs of customers”, including to make it “carbon-neutral by 2040”. https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/steel-industry-hub-1.829956 https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/20m-boost-for-uk-steel-and-biotech/

OVERVIEW of UK coal & steel within climate context

(mainly referring to work by SGR (Scientists for Global Responsibility)’s Executive Director Dr Stuart Parkinson)

Dr Stuart Parkinson’s assessment is a very good brief starting point on the bigger picture of how climate and coking coal and steel-making relate: http://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/return-british-coal I will now quote from this below, but also strongly recommend you also read at least his section B “Demand for metallurgical (coking) coal” in his call-in request letter from Scientists for Global Responsibility to the Secretary of State for the Ministry of HC&LG, which is now linked to from the above link, or directly to the pdf HERE. I have also quoted that section in a text box further below.

...”The most recent report of the IPCC – Global Warming of 1.5C – highlighted our vulnerabilities even to relatively modest levels of climate change. [6] The report showed that efforts to reduce carbon pollution need to be stepped up rapidly, with approximately a decade left for the world to take transformative action. This action would need to include major changes in the iron, steel and cement industries. [7] [6] IPCC (2018). Global Warming of 1.5C. Special Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ [7] Chapter 4 of: IPCC (2018) – as note 6. The argument that the Cumbrian coal would simply be used in industrial processes that are unlikely to change much is also flawed. For example, electric arc furnaces (EAFs) have particular environmental benefits over coal-fired blast furnaces for the recycling of steel, if the source of electricity is lower carbon, as in the UK. And a rapid shift to that technology would be slowed by a new source of coal coming to market. Other low-carbon steel production technologies under development would also be undermined in this way. The continued growth of steel production is also highly questionable. If carbon reduction programmes consistent with a global temperature change target of 1.5C are implemented, then a move to a ‘circular economy’ would also need to become the norm. This would mean a marked increase in iron and steel recycling rates – as melting scrap requires much less energy than using virgin iron ore – and also much greater use of long-lived products made from lower carbon materials. [8] A lack of leadership from the UK government and steel industry has meant that Britain is not a leader in steel production using low carbon processes. In 2017, only 20% of UK steel was produced in EAFs – against an EU average of 40% – while 9 million tonnes of scrap steel were exported for recycling overseas. [9] Such a situation opens the door to high pollution projects like the Cumbrian coal mine – when the county could be looking to sectors like renewable energy, forestry and tourism for its future. [8] As note 7. [9] World Steel Association (2018). Steel Statistical Yearbook 2018. https://www.worldsteel.org/steel-by- topic/statistics/steel-statistical-yearbook.html

SP’s article is cited here: 20mar19 Warnings new UK coal mine undermines green ambitions - Article by Adam Duckett - Editor, The Chemical Engineer https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/warnings-new-uk-coal-mine-undermines-green-ambitions/

I hope Dr Stuart Parkinson does not mind if I quote from his letter to govt HC&LG in April 2019: B. Demand for metallurgical (coking) coal decarbonisation pathway for the steel industry, which projects a 54% The applicant claims that the demand for coking coal can be assumed rise in steel production while achieving a 31% cut in related carbon to follow a growing ‘business-as-usual’ pathway within the UK and EU dioxide (and hence coal).12 These figures relate to a target of limiting for the foreseeable future. There are major reasons to doubt this. In the global temperature change to 2°C. Applying a target of 1.5°C – which is first instance, UK steel production using blast furnaces – fed by coking actively under consideration – would lead to a much larger cut in coal coal – is not secure. There remain only two steel plants using blast use. furnaces in the UK, at Port Talbot and Scunthorpe. The plant at Scunthorpe announced the loss of up to 400 jobs in late 2018.6 6 Grimsby Telegraph (2018). Meanwhile, the Port Talbot plant is only ‘guaranteed’ until 2022. The https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/british-steel- industry has continued to find it very difficult to compete scunthorpe-redundancies-latest- 2003962 internationally. 7 Recycling Magazine (2018). https://www.recycling- In addition, international demand for coking coal is unlikely to rise in magazine.com/2018/05/29/bir-9th-edition-of-world-steel-recycling-in- line with steel demand, as the applicant argues. There are two main figures/ reasons for this. Firstly, the increased demand could be met by greater 8 World Steel Association (2018). Steel Statistical Yearbook 2018. use of recycled steel – produced using electric furnaces, which do not https://www.worldsteel.org/steel-by-topic/statistics/steel-statistical- use coking coal. Recycling rates are increasing, partly driven by yearbook.html environmental concerns – and the EU is an above average performer in 9 SSAB (2018). HYBRIT - Toward fossil-free steel. this field with a current rate of 56%.7 Indeed, the UK exported 9.4Mt of https://www.ssab.com/company/sustainability/sustainable- scrap steel in 2017,8 which could have been recycled here, had the operations/hybrit British industry invested more in this technology. Secondly, new 10 The Chemical Engineer (2019). technologies – using, for example, hydrogen instead of coal as a https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/20m-boost-for-uk-steel- reduction agent – are currently being piloted in countries such as and-biotech/ Sweden,9 with a UK research programme aiming to help make iron and 11 https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ steelmaking carbon neutral by 2040.10 A further argument is that new, 12 These figures cover the period, 2010-2050. low carbon materials will increasingly be substituted for steel in certain circumstances. The Science Based Targets initiative11 has developed a

Re ref.11: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/about-the-science-based-targets-initiative/ The Science Based Targets initiative champions science-based target setting as a powerful way of boosting companies’ competitive advantage in the transition to the low-carbon economy. It is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments... But it is not easy to find a piece specific to steel.

The Use Less Group here provides these useful pie-charts which summarize how important it is to reduce global steel- making emissions:

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Sections below:

- Recent news and publications

- Hydrogen & HYBRIT – towards fossil-free steel

- Steel production from iron ore at present

- Blast furnace carbon emissions in comparison with other methods (i.e. the BF-BOF/BOS route using coking coal)

- References / links – on reducing carbon emissions of steel-making

- UK coal consumption in Coke Ovens and Blast Furnaces

- UK locations and companies making steel, including news re British Steel Scunthorpe

- Some twitter discussion on steel-making, coking coal mine proposal at Whitehaven etc.

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Acronyms

EF = Electric Furnace, which includes EAF = Electric Arc Furnace and EIF = Electric Induction Furnace

BF = Blast Furnace, BOF = Basic Oxygen Furnace, BOS = Basic Oxygen Steel-making,

DRI, DR = Direct Reduced Iron, Direct Reduction method (iron ore not melted, but kept solid while being reduced to iron). Mostly uses gas as reducing and heating agent (except 17% of DRI uses coal: this 17% is mainly if not wholly in India). The gas is currently either from natural gas or syngas from coal, but in the future can be hydrogen, preferably green hydrogen (not from fossil fuel). HBI & HDRI “Hot-briquetted iron (HBI) is a compacted form of DRI designed for ease of shipping, handling and storage. Hot direct reduced iron (HDRI) is iron not cooled before discharge from the reduction furnace that is immediately transported to a waiting electric arc furnace and charged, thereby saving energy.” (Wikipedia). H-DRI is Hydrogen DRI – a different meaning to HDRI, and NG-DRI is Natural Gas DRI.

Steel terminology – ‘A guide to the language of steel’ – by ArcelorMital – one of the biggest steel-making companies https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/news-and-media/factfile/steel-terminology

======DEFINITIONS: In previous versions of this collation I used the term primary steel production (as used by other authors) but have dropped using this term (except in quotes) because it could potentially cause misunderstanding because authors can vary as to whether they confine the term to virgin steel from iron ore, up to before the secondary steel-making stage, or include totally recycled steel. The term ‘virgin steel’ is more obviously just from iron ore, or mainly so. I add ‘mainly so’, because it’s not so simple: Note that at the BOF stage of BF-BOF integrated iron-making a proportion of scrap is typically (e.g. in the UK) added to the furnace as well as the melted iron from the BF. (My current understanding of ‘secondary steel-making’ is that it takes output from primary steel-making and modifies the composition of the steel to the grade and type of steel required, by for example adding or removing the chemical substances required https://www.slideshare.net/chandrakantjally/secondary-steel-making-processes). Also see Gajendra Mehta / SMT in https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-primary-steel-and-a-secondary-steel

Recent news and publications

NB: more up-to-date news on steel decarbonisation is found in my wordpress page: Steel-making news in 2020, focusing on its decarbonisation https://henryadamsblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/20/steel-making-news-in-2020-focusing-on-its-decarbonisation/

13nov19 Steel and concrete are climate change's hard problem. Can we solve it?

Heavy industry produces more carbon dioxide than the entire US. Perfect the new technologies that could clean it up and we can score a crucial climate victory – Adam Vaughan https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432560-700-steel-and-concrete-are-climate-changes-hard- problem-can-we-solve-it/

Coal Free Kingdom Tweet by Sandbag @sandbagorg to their new online piece: UK election manifestos can go beyond the coal power phase-out, and commit to making the UK *totally* coal-free. Here's how: #GE2019 #endcoal https://sandbag.org.uk/project/coal-free-kingdom/ Coal Free Kingdom - Election manifestos can go beyond the coal power phase-out, and commit to making the UK truly coal-free Originally published in Business Green on 13th November 2019

Also relevant and recent from Sandbag: Coal methane leaks – Sandbag re IEA: https://sandbag.org.uk/project/methane- leaks-from-coal-mines-are-worse-for- climate-change-than-all-shipping-and- aviation-combined-says-ieas-new- research-in-weo2019/

11nov19 Jingye to invest £1bn and save 'thousands of British Steel jobs' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50369413 Online comments on this by Valentin Vogl and me:

Hydrogen & HYBRIT – towards fossil-free steel

A number of companies and researchers are pushing forwards towards this goal of making fossil-free very low carbon primary steel using hydrogen as reducing agent instead of coal and fossil gas. Examples:

- SSAB in collaboration with LKAB and Vattenfall (Swedish companies) = HYBRIT project (more info below) Also in collaboration with University of Lund e.g. Valentin Vogl and others. - Midrex with ArcelorMittal – one of world’s largest steel co.s – a multinational with HQ in Luxemburg. - Thyssenkrupp – Duisberg (Ruhr-Rhine confluence) Germany. - Austria

BloombergNEF is optimistic:

29aug19 How Hydrogen Could Solve Steel’s Climate Test and Hobble Coal - Bloomberg News https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-08-29/how-hydrogen-could-solve-steel-s-climate-test- and-hobble-coal ‘Hydrogen may offer a way to slash emissions from steel. The industry faces growing pressure to cut carbon emissions.’ Steel could shed its reputation as a climate threat by using hydrogen instead of fossil fuels for as much as half of global output by 2050, according to BloombergNEF. The steel industry could adopt hydrogen for between 10% and 50% of output by mid-century given the right carbon pricing, BloombergNEF analysts wrote in a report. The sector accounts for as much as 9% of global carbon emissions, according to the World Steel Association. ...

Different methods of using hydrogen are being tested by different companies, including via the Direct Reduced iron method gas-DRI, as well as an intermediate type of method by replacing some of the coal going into blast furnaces with hydrogen.

29mar19 ArcelorMittal [with Midrex] to use hydrogen in steel production process [Also on Hamburg DRI site] https://www.theengineer.co.uk/arcelormittal-to-use-hydrogen-in-steel-production-process/ & 16sep19: https://www.midrex.com/press-release/arcelormittal-commissions-midrex-to-design-demonstration-plant-for- hydrogen-steel-production-in-hamburg/

16apr19 Hydrogen instead of coal. thyssenkrupp Steel launches pioneering project for climatefriendly steel production at its Duisburg site https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/press-release-110080.html As “an initial test” Thyssenkrupp is replacing some of the coal going into blast furnace with hydrogen, and states “Savings of up to 19 % CO2 per tonne of pig iron”. Update: 11nov19 World first in Duisburg as NRW economics minister Pinkwart launches tests at thyssenkrupp into blast furnace use of hydrogen https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/world-first- in-duisburg.html “Interim target 2030: 30 percent reduction in emissions The tests now all three further blast furnaces. The advantage is that whereas injecting started are an important part of thyssenkrupp’s climate strategy to coal produces CO2 emissions, using hydrogen generates water vapor. become climate-neutral by 2050. By 2030 emissions from the CO2 savings of up to 20 percent are therefore already possible at this company’s own production and processes (scope 1 emissions) as well as point in the production process.” ... “Dr. Arnd Köfler, thyssenkrupp emissions from the purchase of energy (scope 2) are to be reduced by Steel Europe’s Chief Technical Officer. “...The results will help us to 30 percent.” ... “In the classic blast furnace process around 300 widen the use of hydrogen to all 28 tuyeres.”” ... “Hydrogen will be a kilograms of coke and 200 kilograms of pulverized coal are needed to key driver of thyssenkrupp Steel’s climate strategy in the coming produce a ton of pig iron. The coal is injected as an additional reducing decades. Following the conversion of the blast furnaces, the company agent into the bottom of the blast furnace shaft through 28 so-called plans to build large-scale direct reduction plants, which will then be tuyeres. At the start of the tests today hydrogen was injected through operating with hydrogen-containing gases, starting in the mid-2020s. one of these tuyeres into blast furnace 9. It marks the start of a series The sponge iron they produce will initially be melted down in the of tests in which thyssenkrupp Steel plans to gradually extend the use existing blast furnaces but in the long term will be processed into crude of hydrogen to all 28 tuyeres on blast furnace 9 and then, from 2022, to steel in electric arc furnaces using renewable energies.” I calculated from the above data that the hydrogen probably replaced only about (1/28)*(200/500) of the total coal, = 1.43%, though I had to use some assumptions where required facts were absent. Here we have both a highly exaggerated and misleading response, and a pessimistic response: 13nov19 Another nail in coal’s coffin? German steel furnace runs on renewable hydrogen in world first – Michael Mazengarb https://reneweconomy.com.au/another-nail-in-coals-coffin-german-steel-furnace-runs-on-renewable-hydrogen-in-world-first-55906/ This sounds great, but I reckon there is a mistake in the first para of stating "completely on hydrogen". My understanding (from Thyssenkrupp) is that the furnace was supplied just partially by hydrogen, to replace some of the coke. And further on in the article the latter seems to be the case. Nonetheless the test is a good step forwards. It used a blast furnace which operates at very high temps, whereas Direct Reduced Iron method runs at lower temps (not so high as to melt the ore & needs less energy) and results in sponge iron. Latter is mentioned further on in the article and it appears the company see the use of a BF as an intermediate step towards replacing BS with DRI. 18nov19 Can we make steel without CO2 emissions using renewable hydrogen? - Lloyd Alter @lloydalter https://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/can-we-make-carbon-free-steel-renewable-hydrogen.html “Yes, in theory. Doing it in practice is a whole other story. ...” Does a bit of maths and is pessimistic about industry being able to produce the huge amounts of green hydrogen from electrolysis that would be required. Refers to Thyssenkrupp’s recent test. Concludes: “Carbon-free steel isn't a fantasy, but it will take decades. Using less steel can happen a lot faster.”

HYBRIT – towards fossil-free steel (SSAB, Vattenfall, LKAB)

1jun20 https://www.ssab.com/news/2020/06/ssab-lkab-and-vattenfall-one-step-closer-to-production-of- fossilfree-steel-on-an-industrial-scale This is an exciting project – but will take time to reach commercial scale (time-scale see chart on tweets below). It would enable steel to be produced from iron ore without using coking coal to remove the oxygen atoms from the iron oxide (which results in CO2 emissions), but instead to use hydrogen – which results in harmless H2O. The hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis of water using electricity generated from wind-power. HYBRIT – towards fossil-free steel http://www.hybritdevelopment.com/ https://twitter.com/hybrit_project

“In 2016, SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall joined forces to create HYBRIT – an initiative that endeavors to revolutionize steel-making. HYBRIT aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for ore-based steel making, with hydrogen. The result will be the world’s first fossil-free steel-making technology, with virtually no carbon footprint. During 2018, work started on the construction of a pilot plant for fossil-free steel production in Luleå, Sweden. The goal is to have a solution for fossil-free steel by 2035. If successful, HYBRIT means that together we can reduce Sweden’s CO2 emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%.” Why HYBRIT? HYBRIT will make a unique contribution to a fossil-free society by enabling a steel production process that emits water instead of carbon dioxide. This can be a reality when the use of coal and coke in steel production is replaced by hydrogen produced using fossil free energy sources.

21jun18 Hybrit Fossil Fuel-Free Steel Demonstration Plant Starts Construction June 21st, 2018 by Steve Hanley https://cleantechnica.com/2018/06/21/hybrit-fossil-fuel- free-steel-demonstration-plant-starts-construction/ 14may18 Hydrogen From Renewables Could Make Emissions-Free Steel Possible May 14th, 2018 by Steve Hanley https://cleantechnica.com/2018/05/14/hydrogen-from- renewables-could-make-emissions-free-steel-possible/ ‘“The solution that we have opted for is to have a completely fossil fuel free value chain for steel production,” he says. The aim is to replace imported coke and coal coming from oversees and instead use hydrogen produced from fossil-free electricity. Hydrogen will then be used as the main reductant to reduce iron ore and produce metallic iron. And this process will only emit water vapor instead of carbon dioxide.” If the new process were applied to all of Sweden’s steel making industry, the nation’s carbon emissions could be reduced by 10%, Görnerup says. “We have now completed a feasibility study on the pilot plant. This means we can start work and excavation this summer. Then, we will continue with the design of the pilot facilities, with the aim of having the pilot plant up and running by 2020.” The emissions-free steel will cost 20% to 30% more than conventional steel, but that difference should narrow in the years ahead as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme ratchets up the cost of putting carbon emissions into the atmosphere from the industrial sector. The cost of renewables should also continue to decline while the price of fossil fuels increases over time. …’

1dec18 Assessment of hydrogen direct reduction for fossil-free steelmaking - ValentinVogl, MaxÅhman, Lars J.Nilsson https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652618326301?via%3Dihub

17dec19 SSAB Americas plans fossil-free US steel production by 2026 https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/metals/121719-ssab-americas-plans-fossil- free-us-steel-production-by-2026

11apr18 Low-emission steel production: decarbonising heavy industry [HYBRIT] - Olle Olsson SEI – Stockholm Environment Institute https://www.sei.org/perspectives/low-emission-steel-production-hybrit/ “Capturing and storing CO2 is one approach to making heavy industry more climate-friendly. But what if we avoid CO2 creation in the first place? SEI’s Olle Olsson describes HYBRIT – the ambitious project to transform the steel production process.” http://theenergymix.com/2018/05/15/quebec-embraces-zero-carbon-aluminum-while-swedish-firm-powers- steelmaking-with-hydrogen/ https://salcos.salzgitter-ag.com/ - via Valentin Vogl GrInHy as a building block - "green" hydrogen for steel production The integration of new plants into the existing infrastructure is a challenge. This includes not only the flexible use of hydrogen and natural gas as a reducing agent of the direct reduction process, but also flexible hydrogen production based on renewable energies. This is because the CO 2 savings within the process become obsolete if, for example, the hydrogen would be produced on the basis of natural gas or electrolytically with the current electricity mix. In order to be able to produce hydrogen in the future, Salzgitter AG and Sunfire GmbH and other partners have been involved in an EU research project since March 2016: GrInHy (= Green Industrial Hydrogen via reversible high-temperature electrolysis). The plant in Salzgitter is currently the world's most powerful reversible high-temperature electrolyzer. http://www.green-industrial-hydrogen.com/home/

Summary of Hybrit by SSAB: https://www.ssab.com/company/sustainability/sustainable-operations/hybrit

Vattenfall GroupVerified account @VattenfallGroup We take responsibility to lead the change. That’s why we’ve partnered up with @SSAB_AB and @LKABgroup with @hybrit_project to realise the world’s first fossil free steel-making technology. This means that we can reduce Sweden’s C02 emissions by 10%. #FridaysForFuture #Vattenfall 12:06 PM - 15 Mar 2019 https://twitter.com/VattenfallGroup/status/1106527009889546240 https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3073450/vattenfall-ssab-and-lkab-forge-ahead-with-plan-for-greensteel via Mike Berners-Lee

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Steel production from iron ore at present

There is a myth or false assumption in public perception, and which supporters of coal mining like to misleadingly enforce, that coking coal is essential for steel-making. This is not true. Other reductants can be used, and are being used, to make iron and steel from iron ore.

Although most global virgin steel production from iron ore at present uses coking coal as reductant (and heating fuel too), and mostly uses blast furnaces to produce iron for the next stage, a significant proportion of virgin steel is produced using other methods - mainly via the Direct Reduction method (DR) to produce Direct Reduced Iron (DRI), and also many (but not all) of the DRI sites use gas as reductant: either natural gas (not from extracted coal), or syngas (synthesized from extracted coal). Typically iron from a blast furnace feeds into a Basic Oxygen Furnace, whereas DRI typically feeds into an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) on site or elsewhere. Thus EAFs don’t all only use scrap steel. Expressed differently:

The main method of steel production from iron ore is the integrated route using Blast Furnaces (which use coking coal) and the Basic Oxygen Furnace – the BF-BOF route (aka BF-BOS, S=Steel-making). Some plants in the world (not in the UK) use methane gas instead of coking coal as both energy source and as reducing agent – in a method called Direct Reduced Iron (DRI), and this can around halve carbon emissions (but is still high carbon, unless is hydrogen used as SSAB and Midrex plan to do in the 2020’s onwards).

The methane gas-DRI process is used at commercial scale in numerous countries over the world including e.g. in the USA, and in Hamburg. Midrex Technologies designs and constructs a lot of the DRI plants over the world e.g. for ArcelorMittal and other firms. www.midrex.com However some DRI plants use coal, or syngas from coal. DRI accounted for 5% of world steel production in 2018 according to ETC (2018).

Blast furnace carbon emissions in comparison (i.e. the BF-BOF route using coking coal)

NB: read Professor Julian Allwood et al.’s latest 2019 ‘Steel Arising’ report pdf as linked to above.

David Fickling wrote for Bloomberg: “Producing a single metric ton of steel in a blast furnace typically releases around 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, not much less than you’d get from burning a ton of thermal coal for energy. ... Hey Kids, Always Recycle Carbon emissions from producing a metric ton of steel are sharply lower with electric arc furnaces” [He then shows this chart which is a simplified version of the one I showed earlier by Energy Sources Transitions Commission ETC]

His article: 12mar19 Mining’s Dirty Secret Won’t Survive a Changing Climate - Factor in what happens when iron ore is turned into steel, and that green image can quickly turn rusty. By David Fickling https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-12/mining-s-green-turn-undermined-by-steel-pollution His source for the “around 2.3 tons of carbon” – appears to come from both ETC and a 4 page EU SETIS pdf: Energy Efficiency and CO2 Reduction in the Iron and Steel Industry https://setis.ec.europa.eu/system/files/Technology_Information_Sheet_Energy_Efficiency_and_CO2_Reduction _in_the_Iron_and_Steel_Industry.pdf It’s ‘Fact file’ box states e.g.: During the period 2005 to 2008, direct emissions from the integrated route were on average 2.3 tCO2/t of rolled products and 0.21tCO2/t of rolled products for the recycling route. ● Combined with CCS, the potential reduction of CO2 emissions of the HIsarna process is 70-80%. ● The potential reduction of CO2 emissions from the ULCORED process is 70-80%. ● If the body structures of all cars produced worldwide were made of Advanced High-Strength Steel instead of conventional steel, 156Mt CO2eq would be avoided. ...

Professor Julian Allwood in his latest 2019 ‘Steel Arising’ report pdf states a lower intensity though refers to crude (liquid) steel: “As a result, the emissions of making new steel from iron ore have similarly converged to a global average of 2.1 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude (liquid) steel. The largest variation in emissions performance arises from the fraction of scrap charged to the basic oxygen furnace, and as this has been maximised in the UK, domestic blast-furnace emissions per tonne of liquid steel are lower than the global average (as shown in the upper two bars of Figure 19.)” [Looks near to 1.5 tCO2/t]

For more info try googling e.g. BLAST FURNACE CARBON EMISSIONS, but I strongly recommend you first read Professor Allwood at al.’s report as referenced in the recycling section above.

References / links specifically on carbon intensity of steel-making methods, and reducing emissions from steel-making

STEEL'S CONTRIBUTION TO A LOW CARBON FUTURE – Worldsteel Association https://www.worldsteel.org/publications/position-papers/steel-s-contribution-to-a-low-carbon-future.html

Reaching zero carbon emissions from Steel – 2018 Consultation Paper by the [global] ENERGY TRANSITIONS COMMISSION - ETC) http://energy-transitions.org/sites/default/files/ETC_Consultation_Paper_-_Steel.pdf

MISSION POSSIBLE REACHING NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS FROM HARDER-TO-ABATE SECTORS BY MID-CENTURY NOVEMBER 2018 - The Energy Transitions Commission ETC – See page 99 “(I) IMPROVING STEEL RECYCLING” http://www.energy-transitions.org/sites/default/files/ETC_MissionPossible_FullReport.pdf ... “The importance of scrap-based steel recycling relative to virgin production will therefore increase gradually throughout the 21st century.” ... “Most of the steel produced is already recycled: 83% across the world and, in some countries, as much as 90%. But further increases in recycling rates would still have a very large impact on CO2 emissions. For instance, in any country which has already reached stable steel stocks, increasing the recycling rate from 85% to 95% would cut the need for virgin steel production by two thirds as well as CO2 emissions by a similar amount.” ... REACHING NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS FROM STEEL - ETC http://www.energy-transitions.org/sites/default/files/ETC%20sectoral%20focus%20-%20Steel_final.pdf ETC - Energy Transitions Commission www.energy-transitions.org https://twitter.com/ETC_energy https://www.facebook.com/EnergyTransitionsCommission/ ETC Chair Lord Adair Turner The Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) brings together a diverse group of leaders from across the energy landscape: energy producers, energy users, equipment suppliers, investors, non-profit organizations and academics from the developed and developing world. Our aim is to accelerate change towards low-carbon energy systems that enable robust economic development and limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2˚C and as close as possible to 1.5˚C. ...

Energy Efficiency and CO2 Reduction in the Iron and Steel Industry European Commission SETIS https://setis.ec.europa.eu/system/files/Technology_Information_Sheet_Energy_Efficiency_and_CO2_Reduction_in_the_Iro n_and_Steel_Industry.pdf

International Carbon Flows – STEEL - The Carbon Trust https://www.carbontrust.com/media/38362/ctc791-international-carbon-flows-steel.pdf “The world’s consumption of iron and steel drives around 6% of global GHG emissions.” ...

Comparison of carbon dioxide emissions intensity of steel production in China, Germany, Mexico, and the United States https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305827970_Comparison_of_carbon_dioxide_emissions_intensity_of_steel_production_in_Ch ina_Germany_Mexico_and_the_United_States in Resources Conservation and Recycling 113:127-139 · October 2016 http://www.unequalcarbonfootprints.org/ucf/steel.htm

1apr19 Reducing carbon emissions in the steel industry https://www.steelyproducts.co.uk/2019/04/01/reducing-carbon-emissions-in-the-steel-industry/ “Bellona says that the global iron and steel industry accounts for about 5% of CO2 emissions. Every day on average 1.9 tonnes of CO2 is emitted every day from steel production. ...”

More on recycling

Metals Recycling Event: 13 & 14 July, Donington Park The Metals Recycling Event is the first of its kind in Europe, an event where metals recycling takes centre stage. Featuring an indoor exhibition showcasing the latest machinery and services, live outdoor demonstrations, and a line-up of key influential speakers, MRE is not to be missed. For more information visit:www.metalsrecyclingevent.com or email [email protected]

Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Mar 1 Valentin Vogl Retweeted TRANSrisk: good insight into perceived company #risks for #steel #decarbonisation. Let's not take scrap recycling as it is today for unchangeable. #Recycling needs to transform as well: purifying scrap, better sorting, higher prices for scrap, public incentives. scrap needs more attention.

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UK coal consumption in Coke Ovens and Blast Furnaces

Source: Coal consumption and coal stocks (ET 2.6) MS Excel Spreadsheet, 424KB

Note the big drop 2015-16 This coincided with the closure of the SSI Redcar steelworks, Teesside near Middlesborough in late 2015.

“The closure of Redcar steelworks contributed to a steep fall in UK’s carbon emissions last year, analysis suggests.” - LINK Re Redcar closure e.g. HERE

This chart can be compared with charts of UK crude steel production by BOS (and EAF) by the International Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB) here: http://issb.co.uk/news/news/uk.html

13nov19 Sandbag state: “In the near future, the iron & steel sector will be the UK’s largest user of coal. Just two sites account for the majority of the UK’s industrial emissions from coal: Port Talbot in Wales, and British Steel in Lincolnshire. In 2018 these steel sites were the two largest point source CO2 emitters in the UK, larger than any power station. ” [Note that Sandbag has since re-named itself as Ember]

UK locations and companies making steel

In 2018, the UK produced 7.3 Mt crude steel, comprising 5.7 Mt (77.8%) using BOF process and 1.6 Mt (22.2%) using EAF process (from World Steel Association data).

UK’s largest steel-making players in approximate order of size are: 2 primary steel sites using Integrated Blast Furnace with Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) processes. BF’s use coking coal to reduce the iron ore and thus have very high carbon emissions: - Port Talbot (TATA): 2 BF’s. - Scunthorpe (British Steel): 4 BF’s of which 2 operating. Production 2.8m tons in 2018, max 4.5m pa (Telegraph) Several sites that recycle steel using Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF’s). Carbon emissions depend mainly on how the electricity is generated: - Sheffield-Rotherham: Liberty Steel: ?2 or 3 EAF’s (exact no. yet to clarify) Capacity: can melt >=1.2mT steel pa. - Cardiff: Celsa Steel: ?2 or 3 EAF’s (exact no. yet to clarify) Capacity: c. 1.2mT pa finished product. - Sheffield: Outokumpu SMACC (Stainless Melting and Continuous Casting) Max. production 600,000 T pa steel. - Sheffield Forgemasters has a melt shop with a 105 tonne capacity EAF.

Those are the large sites I know of at present. Keen to know of any I’ve missed. - Tees Valley: Materials Processing Institute has a 7 tonne EAF i.e. just a small one which is used for both research&training as well as production of specialist steels - though on a very small scale. The MPU is part of UK Steel which is the trade association for UK’s steel manufacturing industry.

The UK’s 2 Blast Furnace – Basic Oxygen sites produce primary steel at a lower carbon intensity than the average blast furnace sites abroad and thus their closure before construction of lower emission replacements could mean the UK importing higher carbon intensity primary steel from abroad (Allwood et al. 2019).

Above sites in reverse order:

Sheffield Forgemasters https://www.sheffieldforgemasters.com/

Melt shop with a 105 tonne capacity Electric Arc Furnace (EAF).

Outokumpu at Sheffield (SMACC - Stainless Melting and Continuous Casting)

Uses Electric Arc Furnace method and recycles scrap steel. www.outokumpu.com/en/locations/sheffieldsmacc “Outokumpu Oyj is a group of international companies headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, employing 10,600 employees in more than 30 countries. Outokumpu is the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe and the second largest producer in the Americas.” - Wikipedia [Outokumpu is also the name of a place in Finland]. “Manufacturing Process [for Stainless Steel Reinforcing Bar (secondary production route – scrap)] Scrap metal is melted in an electric arc furnace to obtain liquid steel. This is then refined to remove impurities an d alloying additions can be added to give the required properties. Hot metal (molten steel) from the EAF is then cast into steel billets before being sent to the rolling mill where th ey are rolled and shaped to the required dimensions for the finished bars and coils of stainless steel reinforcing steel.” - http://www.greenbooklive.com/filelibrary/EN_15804/EPD/Outokumpu-Stainless-Ltd-EN-EPD-0057.1.pdf The EAF at Outokumpu Stainless Ltd, Sheffield, “has a nominal capacity of 130 tonnes.” And “In full production, a maximum of 600,000 tonnes per annum of steel can be produced”. Also has e.g. a DC Arc Furnace to recover other metals. Tech. info: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/507769/Variation_Notice.pdf More tech. info. E.g. here: https://tetronics.com/2016/08/17/25-years-success-outokumpu-stainless-dc-plasma-smelting-facility/

Celsa Steel UK at Cardiff http://www.celsauk.com https://twitter.com/CELSASteelUK

Uses Electric Arc Furnace method and recycles scrap steel. Tweets “... our 53MW Electric Arc Furnace ...”

“Acquired in 2003, Celsa Steel UK is the largest producer of reinforcement in the United Kingdom and one of the largest manufacturers of other steel long products. From our facilities in Cardiff, we produce and deliver around 1.2 million tonnes of finished product each year, mainly to the UK and Irish markets. Our facilities consist of a state-of-the art melt shop built in 2006, and two production facilities: one for reinforcing products and wire rod, the other for merchant bar and light sections. ...” “1.2 million tonnes” pa implies Celsa Steel UK may have 3 EAFs in its “Melt Shop”? But its website doesn’t specify how many.

Liberty Steel, Liberty House Group e.g. at Sheffield-Rotherham & elsewhere

I’ve already referred to Liberty House Group’s steel-making using electric arc furnaces (EAF’s), such as at Rotherham. At one steel mill in Rotherham LH has re-started 2 EAF’s each with an annual capacity of 400,000 “metric tons”. Dan Sandoval (Recycling Today, 2018) writes that the starting of the 2nd EAF at that steel mill will triple LH’s capacity at Rotherham to melt more than 1.2 million metric tons of steel per year, implying that LH has a third EAF in Rotherham (?). So does LH have 2 or 3 (or more?) EAF’s in the UK?

16feb18 HRH The Prince of Wales reignites furnace - Liberty House Group http://www.libertyhousegroup.com/our-businesses/liberty-steel/ http://www.libertyhousegroup.com/news/hrh-the-prince-of-wales-reignites-furnace/ “His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, will today (February 16th) mark a major milestone in the revival of Britain’s steel industry when he formally reignites the iconic N-Furnace at Liberty Speciality Steels in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. … the Alliance’s vision for an industrial revival based on renewable energy, metal recycling and integration of the supply chain.” http://www.libertyhousegroup.com/company/vision/ “GREENSTEEL strategy”: “… 2. Invest in green energy, not green taxes. We have committed investment in generation of low-cost, low carbon power for use in steel recycling. We will strive to reduce the impact of carbon taxes imposed on coal and gas based electricity to the manufacture steel (but not on coal for blast furnaces). We already hold investments in low cost power from hydro to bio fuel, and we are working to convert coal power plants to biomass and waste-to-energy stations. We will seek to grow our renewable energy portfolio to the advantage of our steel and engineering capabilities. …”

20feb18 Liberty Steel restarts furnace at UK mill – Dan Sandoval https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/liberty-eaf-steel-furnace-uk-recycling/ “... The facility’s two 400,000-metric-tons-per-year furnaces will melt ferrous scrap into specialized steels for uses such as vehicle gearboxes and aircraft landing gear. Liberty indicates the furnace will play what it calls a pivotal role in Liberty’s overall Greensteel strategy, “designed to usher in a cleaner and more competitive era for the industry in the U.K.” The steel mill has two furnaces. The first furnace, with an annual capacity of 400,000 metric tons, already has been restarted. ... The switch-on of the second furnace marks the culmination of five months engineering work by a team of 35 people to repair and upgrade the equipment. It will triple Liberty’s capacity to melt scrap into liquid steel at Rotherham, making the company the largest steel recycler in the U.K., with a capability to melt more than 1.2 million metric tons of steel per year. It also moves the business closer to its target of installing 5 million metric tons of Greensteel production capacity within five years. In addition, restarting the second furnace will enable the Rotherham plant to double production on its adjacent bar mill to more than 400,000 metric tons per year. Liberty Recycling, the company’s scrap recycling division, has operations in South Wales, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Scotland. Liberty Metals Recycling also has a scrap collection and trans-shipment operation in Gdansk, Poland.”

The Templeborough site at Rotherham used to have 6 EAF’s but was closed decades ago and part of it is the museum Magna – which has an audio-visual feature called “The Big Melt” which demonstrates the sights and sounds of one of the EAF’s as it once was: https://www.visitmagna.co.uk/science-adventure/history-of-steel The is rest derelict: https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/industrial-sites/35141-templeborough-steel-magna-rotherham-june-2017-a.html#.XVkkZeNKjKl

EAFs: matching EAF production flexibility with renewable energy supply & demand variations: My tentative suggestion (as it may be technically unviable?): Further emissions-reductions could possibly be achieved by DSR-payments such as within Capacity Market auctions to energy-intensive companies [such as with electric arc furnaces (EAFs)], to incentivise them to use less energy within the high demand periods (4pm-8pm over winter), as advised in a letter from Tim Yeo to the then DECC minister for energy – and in the future to focus their energy demand when there is surplus wind/solar generation(?). Unlike BF process, EAFs are much more flexible in production over time. Looks like this is possible and is being researched e.g. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82521500.pdf

Liberty House at Newport: new steel is not produced at this site at present, though I understand LH may build an EAF here in the future, I guess to recycle scrap steel. “The Liberty Steel Newport has a proud tradition of producing quality Hot Rolled Coil (HRC) with a history spanning over 40 years.” http://www.libertyhousegroup.com/our-businesses/liberty-steel/liberty-steel-newport/

British Steel at Scunthorpe (Lincolnshire) https://twitter.com/BritishSteelUK

Primary steel-making. 4 Blast Furnaces of which 2 operating. Production 2.8m tons in 2018, max 4.5m pa. Location – not far from the Humber and part of the Humber industrial cluster.

2020 For news updates on British Steel at Scunthorpe and Jingye’s acquisition see my wordpress page: Steel-making news in 2020, focusing on its decarbonisation https://henryadamsblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/20/steel-making-news-in-2020-focusing-on-its-decarbonisation/

11nov19 Jingye to invest £1bn and save 'thousands of British Steel jobs' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50369413 See comments in Recent news and publications section above.

The decision unveiled in August for Turkish firm Ataer to be preferred buyer of British Steel at Scunthorpe looks very promising for the decarbonisation of primary steel-making in the UK as regards the buyer having an ambition for a path via coal-to-gas towards hydrogen-based steel-making. Also government have since then shown an interest in financially supporting research into the route to hydrogen (see UK policy section above). I have extracted the climate-relevant quotes from the following piece in the Independent:

19aug19 British Steel: Hundreds of jobs could be cut to raise productivity - Olesya Dmitracova Economics and Business Editor @dmitracova ‘I am not focused on headcount,’ says senior official of the Turkish firm planning to buy the UK company https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/british-steel-jobs-cuts-turkey-oyak-ataer-a9069131.html Ataer Holdings, the investment arm of Turkey’s military pension fund Oyak, was unveiled on Friday as the preferred buyer for the steelmaker which collapsed in May. Ataer now has exclusive rights to look into British Steel in greater detail and plans to complete the purchase by the end of the year. ... The FT also reported that Ataer is in talks with the UK government about a “financial contribution” to help make British Steel’s plants greener, by converting them to run on hydrogen. First, the plants will need to switch from coal to gas, Mr Ozcan was quoted as saying. “We would like to convert at least 50 per cent of the capacity to gas-based steel,” he said. Then, he added, “with the efforts of the UK government, we want to convert from gas to hydrogen”. He said: “Our ambition is to go from carbon to lower-carbon to zero. We will be leading the way to produce clean steel.”

Turkish bidder for BS, Oyak (pension fund), states (aug19): “British Steel with its 150 years of heritage has a crude steel production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes annually”...” Our priority will be to increase the production capacity and to invest in clean steel production in British Steel.” REF I hope they mean adding EAF’s... 16aug19 British Steel: tentative deal with Turkish bidder could save 4,000 jobs - Full transfer of ownership to pension fund Oyak expected to take place before end of year – Rob Davies & Jasper Jolly https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/16/british-steel-provisional-deal-with-turkish-bidder-could-save-4000-jobs-oyak

The future of steel-making at Scunthorpe is now in the balance (2019). Will government put aside its ideologies and consider the bigger picture including both climate and the huge number of jobs at stake?

British Steel at Scunthorpe is UK’s 2nd largest steel-making works, employs c.4K or more staff and amongst other products is main producer of rails for UK railway lines. It is currently (Spring 2019) in financially difficulties and wants the taxpayer to bail it out (update: insolvent & in receivership but its work continuing). It uses high carbon methods to make steel and this may be one factor of the several contributing to its financial problems. I have asked the company on twitter for its state of play (simple yes/no Q’s) re progress (if any) towards moving to EAF recycling methods but no response. https://britishsteel.co.uk/what-we-do/how-we-make-steel/ “In Scunthorpe we have four blast furnaces” “At Scunthorpe, we use the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) process – our modern convertors (or vessels) take a combined charge of scrap and liquid iron of up to 330 tonnes and convert this into steel in just 25 minutes.” “Continuous casting is one of the best routes for achieving the highest levels of internal and surface quality.” “High-quality coke is made at our Coke Ovens – coal, sourced from all over the world, is charged into the top of each oven and heated at around 1,100°C for 18 hours. This carbonisation process removes impurities, like coal tar and coal gas, to produce coke.” “Additional raw materials are processed at Scunthorpe’s sinter plant, which forms an iron- rich feedstock for the blast furnaces. The ingredients – iron ore, coke and limestone fines” https://britishsteel.co.uk/who-we-are/sustainability/ “Steel is the ultimate sustainable material. Steel can be recycled infinitely without losing its properties or performance. This is called ‘multicycling’, and is unique among construction materials. Research shows that 99% of steel arising from demolition sites in the UK is reused or recycled.” https://britishsteel.co.uk/media/255566/recycled-content-information-for-potential-customers.pdf 2018 “In the European steel industry as a whole, recycled scrap steel accounts for 56% of total steel making, being made up of 32% pre-consumer and 24% post-consumer scrap” [BS state surprising implications from this]

My current views (Spring 2019) as a non-expert (but open to amendment from assessments by experts) I would like to see Scunthorpe steel-making (and the thousands of jobs) saved on the basis of a firm commitment to a plan to shift to lower carbon methods of steel-making (such as recycling by EAF), as that will have to happen for its long-term future compatibility with UK’s emissions-reductions commitments, though I appreciate such changes would be both high capex and take time to happen. This would also need UK-wide steel/making/recycling governance with help from UK government – to ensure higher standards of steel recycling to reduce hard-to-remove-later impurities such as copper from wiring (Professor Allwood’s advice). From what Allwood writes, UK’s blast furnace – basic oxygen steelmaking sites produce primary steel at a lower carbon intensity than BF-BOS sites in other countries on average, thus though their closure might result in a big drop in UK’s CO2e emissions it could however potentially increase global emissions if BF-BOS sites abroad increase their output to replace that from Scunthorpe. Stefan Zaitschenko mulls a possible DRI-EAF replacement for BF-BOF (as an intermediate step I guess). DRI uses methane instead of coking coal so could potentially about halve emissions but is still a fossil fuel and would add to gas extraction demand. Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Mar 1 Valentin Vogl Retweeted TRANSrisk: good insight into perceived company #risks for #steel #decarbonisation. Let's not take scrap recycling as it is today for unchangeable. #Recycling needs to transform as well: purifying scrap, better sorting, higher prices for scrap, public incentives. scrap needs more attention.

As tweets by “Save Our Steel” Stefan show (below) this view to be achievable will need the resolution of technical, financial and governance hurdles. But we should expect this to be hard – after all steel is one of the hardest industries to decarbonize and it will take time, but all the more reason for starting asap.

There was no response from Simon Jack. Sadly he usually omits reference to wider climate implications when reporting on industry futures that are highly relevant to climate.

Disappointing that Liberty House “loses interest” in taking over the “British Steel” steelworks at Scunthorpe, because LH strategy is to shift to lower carbon methods of making steel (i.e. from blast furnaces to EAFs). Maybe a near-future alternative UK government may wish to support such a strategy but via nationalisation – a plan favoured by e.g. NEF (New Economics Foundation) with conditions to shift to lowering carbon emissions. 22may19 It’s not too late to nationalise British Steel - Time to rethink a failed economic model. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2019/05/it-s-not-too-late-nationalise-british-steel

22jun19 British Steel bidder loses interest as UK fails to offer support - Frontrunner to buy collapsed firm deterred by government’s refusal to guarantee funding – Rob Davies https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/22/british-steel-bidder-loses-interest-as-uk-fails-to-offer-support

23may19 NEF https://neweconomics.org/2019/05/its-not-too-late-to-nationalise-british-steel Links to: 22may19 It’s not too late to nationalise British Steel - Time to rethink a failed economic model. – Andrew Pendleton of NEF https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2019/05/it-s-not-too-late-nationalise- british-steel ... “The third is to green UK steel production in Scunthorpe, for instance by investing in new arc furnaces to electrify the smelting process and using steel close to where it is manufactured to save millions of tonnes of carbon used in shipping.” ... 22may19 BBC: British Steel insolvency endangers 5,000 jobs https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48365241 “British Steel has been placed in compulsory liquidation, putting 5,000 jobs at risk and endangering 20,000 in the supply chain. The move follows a breakdown in rescue talks between the government and the company's owner, Greybull. The Government's Official Receiver has taken control of the company as part of the liquidation process. ...”

15may19 British Steel: Three options for government Simon Jack Business editor @BBCSimonJack https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48285277 No mention of climate context, so I tweet to SJ to add it.

14may18 British Steel seeks new £75m taxpayer loan to avert collapse - The government is drawing up contingency plans for the collapse of the UK’s second-biggest steel producer, Sky News learns. By Mark Kleinman, City editor https://news.sky.com/story/british-steel-seeks-new-75m-taxpayer-loan-to-avert-collapse-11719704

30apr19 Clark backs British Steel with £100m rescue funding - The business secretary has agreed to help the UK’s second-biggest steel producer meet an EU carbon bill, Sky News learns. By Mark Kleinman, City editor Tuesday 30 April 2019 18:36, UK https://news.sky.com/story/clark-backs-british-steel-with-100m-rescue-funding-11707935 Greg Clark, the business secretary, has agreed to provide £100m in funding to the UK’s second-biggest steel producer after it requested emergency support to make a repayment to an EU-run environment scheme. Sky News has learnt that Mr Clark will announce on Wednesday that the government has stepped in to meet a financial shortfall faced by British Steel ahead of a deadline for the company to pay its latest carbon emissions bill. Sources said that the government funding had been used to acquire carbon credits on behalf of British Steel before surrendering them to regulators, with the company signing a deal with Mr Clark's department to repay the money on commercial terms over the coming months. Mr Clark is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons confirming the government's financial support for British Steel, which owns the giant Scunthorpe steel plant and employs 5,000 people. The disclosure will come just over a fortnight after Sky News revealed British Steel's secret request for a Whitehall loan. ... ======2may19 L: CCCuk have this in the main report: "A 30% reduction in the tonnage of iron and steel, and a 26% reduction in cement, lime and plaster, consumed in the UK between 2016 and 2050. See Chapter 4 of the Technical Report for details." But on a quick search I didn't find anything substantive on process changes - just CCS and a mention of biomass. L.

HA: 2may19: CCCuk appears to go in a different direction to the lower carbon recycling-with-EAF viewpoint of Liberty House (Sanjeev Gupta) – as summarized in para.2 of my collation/summary document http://www.dragonfly1.plus.com/STEEL&climate-collationbyHA.pdf

Also – it coincides with this news:

30apr19 Clark backs British Steel [Scunthorpe] with £100m rescue funding - The business secretary has agreed to help the UK’s second-biggest steel producer meet an EU carbon bill, Sky News learns. By Mark Kleinman, City editor https://news.sky.com/story/clark-backs-british-steel-with-100m-rescue-funding-11707935

To which there have been numerous critical responses on twitter (incl. mine) which I’ll list below. We must bear in mind that in June 2017 British Steel was looking into adding an EAF(s) to its blast furnace(s) [refs below] and I don’t know how far that declared-aim has progressed (obviously v.imp. from our viewpoint). I’ll ask BS on twitter (though I don’t expect a reply).

I wrote on Fb: Greg Clark now funding UK steel-making, but he is undermining the ETS carbon trading system, giving state aid, and: is this to prolong British Steal's (sic) coking coal method or to help it shift to Electric Arc Furnaces? (That's important re carbon intensity).

Some of the tweets:

Seb Henbest @SebHenbest Let me get this straight...British Steel sold its 2018 free #EUETS carbon permits last year for quick cash, and now doesn't have any left to submit for compliance. So the UK govt has had to step in with £100m rescue funding to buy them back at >2x price?!

Henry Adams @henryadamsUK & is @GregClarkMP @beisgovuk investing our £ into lower carbon EAF method of recycling UK scrap steel instead of exporting it? Or into prolonging high carbon coal-based method of making steel, just when we need to reduce that? http://www.dragonfly1.plus.com/STEEL&climate... … … AnyViews @LibertyHouseGrp?

Bryony Worthington @bryworthington [in reply to another tweet reponse by someone else] Precisely - you can't ask for carbon to be regulated as a tradable commodity and then treat it as a special case. What's the market for? Not meant to be a way to improve cash flow.

June 2017 https://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/news/arc-furnaces-brighten-up-british-86505 https://www.humberbusiness.com/news/british-steel-looking-to-introduce-electric/story-5941-detail/story https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3722130/British-Steel-considers-EAF-use-within-hybrid-steelmaking-setup.html

L: on a first read, the Committee on Climate Change report seems to go for carbon capture and storage in blast furnaces rather than a change in process - though they do also talk about using biomass to substitute coke as an option. L.

British Steel at Scunthorpe – is it building EAF(s)??? – I’ve found no evidence of this. (Important re carbon intensity). In June 2017 it was considering this: 1jun17 British Steel considers EAF use within ‘hybrid’ steelmaking setup https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3722130/British-Steel-considers-EAF-use-within-hybrid-steelmaking- setup.html 1jun17 Arc furnaces to brighten up British Steel? - The announcement comes after British Steel announced a "remarkable" financial turnaround https://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/news/arc-furnaces-brighten-up- british-86505 2jun17 British Steel looking to introduce electric arc furnaces https://www.humberbusiness.com/news/british- steel-looking-to-introduce-electric/story-5941-detail/story What is the state of play re this in 2019? Answer: “up in the air”

Port Talbot steel-making (currently owned by TATA steel) - South Wales

Port Talbot has 2 remaining blast furnaces (No.s 4 and 5. No.s 1 to 3 have been removed) but no Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs). However there have been proposals to add EAFs at Port Talbot – to recycle UK’s scrap steel, (and also for these to replace the BFs) but I have heard no mention of the Conservative government having an interest in such proposals as they would need long-term planning with regard to meeting climate objectives.

7apr16 Port Talbot electric arc furnace ‘would be boost for UK’ https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/port-talbot-electric-arc-furnace-would-be-boost-for-uk/ Development of an electric arc furnace at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site could give the UK an opportunity to take a lead in scrap metal recycling and steel production, according to a top UK metals academic. The view that an opportunity could emerge from the difficulties facing the plant came today (7 April) from Julian Allwood, Professor of Engineering and Environment at the University of Cambridge. Capacity The opportunity, he emphasised, is around producing purer steel from Last month, letsrecycle.com reported on Professor Allwood’s address to ferrous scrap rather than just making more basic reinforcing bar which an international car recycling conference in Berlin (see letsrecycle.com is normally used in construction products. Instead, by producing purer story), where he noted that in terms of global steel production, “we steel, “We could become world leaders in a technology in a material already have all the primary production capacity we will ever need”. that would grow in demand.” Now the professor’s remarks have taken on a new dimension in the An electric arc furnace produces steel from scrap and is important to the metals wake of Tata Steel’s proposed divestment of its UK steel business, recycling sector (Picture: Arcelor Mittal) notably the integrated steel producing plant at Port Talbot which The professor reasons that a key factor in the success of electric arc produces steel in the traditional primary way. furnaces would be for the furnaces to produce higher quality steels than can be the case now. Blast furnaces produce high quality steel from raw materials (Picture: This is because the scrap metal used in electric arc furnaces is recycled. Shutterstock) Consequently it can contain copper and other non-ferrous materials A sale of the mill is being discussed although closure is an option. One which means that the final product may have more limited, lower grade potential buyer is Sanjiv Gupta’s Liberty Group, which favours the steel uses. development of an electric arc furnace at Port Talbot – and Mr Gupta is Instead, Professor Allwood has called for investment by the metals a former student of Cambridge University where he studied economics. recycling and end of life vehicle sector in methods to produce higher Tata’s Port Talbot plant makes steel largely from iron ore, coke and quality steel scrap, extracting more copper and contrary materials in limestone. In contrast an electric arc furnace makes ‘new’ steel the metal recycling process. primarily from melting scrap steel. However, this would increase costs for metal recyclers. Enough Low residual Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, Professor Allwood said: “We have One senior metals recycling industry figure told letsrecycle.com: “The enough pig iron capacity now and forever. While world demand is metals recycling industry already aims for low residual material. But, paused now, it will grow again but there is enough material in the what can be achieved will also centre around what is commercially recycling side to meet this future demand.” viable for the industry. He explained that overall “the stock of steel from the last 40 years is “Certainly, if there was an electric arc furnace at Port Talbot there still around” and much of this would become available for recycling. would be a ready supply of material available in the UK, currently about Professor Allwood continued: “The electric arc furnace is better placed 80% of more than 10 million tonnes of scrap collected is exported.” for future steel production and there is an opportunity for UK In terms of quality, the metals recycling expert said that the move for leadership in this area. In the past steel scrap has generally been used quality has been led by Nucor in the United States where there is an to make reinforcing bar. No country or company has yet grasped the issue about copper content in ferrous scrap. Nucor is a metal recycler bullet in taking the lead on high quality steel recycling.” and steel producer via the electric arc route. He continued: “In the UK our recognised grades look for low amounts of recycling sector to be supported with the development of technologies copper which is why there are references to low residuals. Yes reducing to help produce “purer scrap”. copper even more can be done – the equipment is out there. The Approach problem can be that there will be an extra cost and the concerns have The trade association for metal recyclers, BMRA, said that it welcomed been that one minute buyers will pay one prices and the next minute efforts to protect the future of the British steel industry. Association the price tumbles or demand almost halts as we have seen in recent chief executive, Robert Fell, said that the electric arc furnace approach months.” “would contrast markedly with the current situation where around 80% If the UK were to support development of an electric arc furnace at Port of UK scrap steel is exported due to a lack of a domestic market”. Talbot with subsidies, he added, then it would be logical for the metals

Redcar steelworks, Teesside near Middlesborough, and its closure in late 2015

Already referred to in the section above headed UK coal consumption in Coke Ovens and Blast Furnaces

Stefan @SZaitschenko @SZaitschenko 3:05 PM - 20 Jul 2019 tweeted (as start of a thread): BRITISH STEEL: This report on the "Future of the former steelworks site in Redcar Constituency" from Nov 2018 is an essential reminder of the Gov't response to the potential closure of the steelworks and events after the closure. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2018-0247/CDP-2018-0247.pdf … Click here for other tweets in this thread by someone with engineering experience of the steel industry: https://twitter.com/SZaitschenko/status/1152580368102387713

Note that there are proposals to build an EAF at Teeside…

Steelworks that are major manipulators of already-made steel

(Some examples; not comprehensive in the least) Note that British Steel at Scunthorpe both make steel and make it into rails for UK railway lines. Liberty House Group both make steel and make steel into big products: http://www.libertyhousegroup.com/our-businesses/liberty-steel/

23oct19 Role for Newport's Orb steelworks in supply chain for electric vehicles would avoid closure 'travesty' By Andy Rutherford https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17986993.role-newports-orb-steelworks-supply- chain-electric-vehicles-avoid-closure-travesty/

11jul17 Hartlepool’s Tata Steel pipe mills sold to Liberty House https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/hartlepool-s-tata-steel-pipe-mills-sold-to-liberty-house-1-8642766

Tata Steel has announced it has sold its 42 and 84-inch pipe mills in Hartlepool to an international company. A definitive sale agreement has been reached to transfer the pipe mills – the largest in Britain – into the hands of Liberty House Group. Sanjeev Gupta, the head of the Liberty Group. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire. About 140 people are employed at the pipe mills, in Brenda Road, to manufacture pipeline for gas and oil products around the world. International industrials and metals group Liberty House will now conclude discussions with a range of stakeholders on a support package to help maintain the jobs there, and recruit more staff. Meanwhile, the 20-inch tube mill at the same Hartlepool site, where another 270 people work, will remain under the ownership of Tata Steel. The company will make a £1million investment to increase the mill’s capability to make high-strength steel tubes. ... 28mar18 Massive deal for Hartlepool steel plant - and there could be more https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/massive-deal-for-hartlepool-steel-plant-and-there-could-be-more-1-9086863 A massive deal to provide 13,000 tonnes of steel has been secured by a Hartlepool plant - and it means job security for 140 workers. Delighted officials at the town’s Liberty Pipes site revealed the deal and said it will help reinstate the Hartlepool pipe mills’ as a global force in the oil and gas sector. The contract is a multi-million-pound order from Subsea 7 to provide large diameter steel pipe for Statoil’s Snorre Expansion Project off the coast of Norway. For Hartlepool it means work for nearly a year for the workers in the 84-inch mill. ...

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Twitter activity on steel-making and coking coal mine proposal at Whitehaven:

I suggest you follow Valentin Vogl and Stefan Zaitschenko:

Stefan @SZaitschenko Iron(and steel) is in my blood. Engineer from 1975-2012 at BritishSteel/Corus/Tata. FB Admin for British Steel (BSPS2/PPF) and British Steel Pension Transfers Example of one of his informative twitter threads: https://twitter.com/SZaitschenko/status/1138820531552169984

I was lucky to come across this researcher into Hybrit as a result of criticizing “analyst” Helen Jackson:

Valentin Vogl @valenvogl tweets on steel, energy & climate. doctoral student: steel transitions @lunduniversity @hybrit_project@Reinvent_EU

Url for the following thread: https://twitter.com/valenvogl/status/1109003482353332224 Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Replying to @HelenJackson0 there is alternatives to this. I agree with you that they won't happen overnight, but a coking coal mine will lock in steel industry into C even more. British steel firms do not have a strategy of how to get to zero emissions, because if they had then this mine wouldn't open 8:06 AM - 22 Mar 2019 Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Mar 22 Replying to @valenvogl @HelenJackson0 quite a few projects are looking into electrification. Crucially, this isn't one big leap into fossil-free steelmaking, but needs a long-term strategy and R&D engagement - so far missing from UK industry @hybrit_project @siderwin_spire https://salcos.salzgitter-ag.com/ @voestalpine Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Mar 22 AND: the transition can start today. in @hybrit_project one of the plants will end coke use already in 2025. In the @SalzgitterAG project they will gradually phase out coke for natural gas and then renewable #hydrogen. "we need coke for making steel" is not valid anymore i.m.o.

Helen Jackson @HelenJackson0 Mar 22 thanks for your thoughts

Thread by VV was in response to: Helen Jackson @HelenJackson0 Mar 21 Unpopular opinion: The UK imports 89% of its coking coal and as long as we're using it for steel-making there's no particular reason why it shouldn't come from Cumbria rather than somewhere else [Linking to:] Deep coal mine gets go ahead in Cumbria despite protests - Environmental campaigners say backing for Woodhouse colliery cannot be justified - Phillip Inman @phillipinman Tue 19 Mar 2019 19.27 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/19/deep-coal-mine-gets-go-ahead-in-cumbria-despite- protests [ I quote:] Announcing the approval of Woodhouse colliery, councillor Geoff Cook, the chair of Cumbria county council’s development control and regulation committee, said it was not an easy decision and there would be mixed views. “All of us would prefer to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and we recognise that during construction there will be disruption to many local residents,” he said. “However, we felt that the need for coking coal, the number of jobs on offer and the chance to remove contamination outweighed concerns about climate change and local amenity.”

Examples of other useful tweets by VV:

Valentin Vogl @valenvogl 5 Sep 2018 new article on hydrogen steelmaking, how it could work, how much energy it'll take, and what's the connection to balancing renewables. #openaccess in J. of Cleaner Production https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.279#.W49_Iyl2MOE.twitter …

Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Mar 22 What if Australia stopped exporting iron ore and exported 'green' HBI instead? -> half of global blast furnaces could be shut down and be replaced with EAFs running on HBI -> 30% reduction of shipping needed -> Renewable el. demand in AUS: ca. 1,700 TWh/y (the big 'but') Valentin Vogl Retweeted REINVENT @REINVENT_EU Mar 11 A postdoc opportunity on industrial #decarbonisation and the sustainable development goals is open at Lund University (one of the participants of REINVENT). Please spread the word.

Valentin Vogl @valenvogl Mar 1 Valentin Vogl Retweeted TRANSrisk good insight into perceived company #risks for #steel #decarbonisation. Let's not take scrap recycling as it is today for unchangeable. #Recycling needs to transform as well: purifying scrap, better sorting, higher prices for scrap, public incentives. scrap needs more attention.

The above thread was Via Helen Jackson https://twitter.com/HelenJackson0

Helen Jackson @HelenJackson0 Environment & nat resource economist tweeting about climate change/risk, energy, environmental protection, green finance, data science, politics. near Cambridge, UK helenjacksonanalytic.co.uk Joined September 2015

Url for the following thread: https://twitter.com/HelenJackson0/status/1108677041333903360

Helen Jackson @HelenJackson0 Mar 21 Unpopular opinion: The UK imports 89% of its coking coal and as long as we're using it for steel-making there's no particular reason why it shouldn't come from Cumbria rather than somewhere else https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/19/deep-coal-mine-gets-go-ahead-in-cumbria-despite-protests

Helen Jackson @HelenJackson0 Mar 21 This mine will produce coking coal for use in the UK & EU steel industry which would otherwise come from the N America, Australia, etc. Extracting it closer to home can cut out those transport emissions.

Henry Adams @henryadamsUK Replying to @HelenJackson0 You appear not to realise that any "savings" in transport emissions, though big, are relatively tiny as cf upstream & combustion emissions. Adding more coking coal to global market will add to global emissions; the price-depressing pressure cld threaten low-C methods for steel...

Words spoken by the 7 objectors to WCM’s application to Cumbria County Council for a coking coal mine at Whitehaven: www.dragonfly1.plus.com/FINALsummaryWCMobjections.pdf

Helen Jackson failed to research the topic before making assertions – which is a frequently–shown trait of hers (as well as a blindspot for flaws in Conservative policy, or some misplaced faith that the Conservative Party are doing what’s best for climate or will be doing so).

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