Posted on 22 Sep 2021
Decarbonisation must take place along the entire metals value chain, from producers to end-users to the grids and pipelines that connect them, Kallanish heard from speakers Tuesday from The Climate Group.
As part of the group’s Climate Week NYC - Demanding Net Zero presentation on Facebook Live, executives from the steel, copper, and associated supply chains offered their opinions on the feasibility of reaching net-zero by at least 2050.
Energy Transition Commission & Mission Possible Partnership executive director Faustine Delasalle says policy mechanisms and corporate planning needs to be implemented now in order to meet 2030 - and even 2050 - carbon goals.
“We’re not at the time of speeches, anymore,” she says.
Steel is one of the more challenging industries to decarbonise, due to differences in production across regions, companies, and industries.
Tata Steel Limited corporate responsibility chief Madhulika Sharma believes the tech for true green steel will be in place by 2030. It will need to be supported, however, by policy pressure, credit availability, and most importantly market demand signals.
On that front, automotive stands ready to provide the necessary demand, says Volkswagen AG global head of sustainability Ralf Pfatzner.
Switching to battery electric vehicles - fueled ultimately by renewable power - is the most obvious way to cut vehicle lifecycle emissions.
The rest will have to come from the material supply chain, he says.
“The demand for green steel is an obvious choice,” he says, noting that green steel projects have moved over the past five years from small-scale pilot programmes to needle-moving projects. That will go a long way toward solving the “chicken and the egg” problem of “how to deal with today’s existing green steel premium.”
Source:Kallanish
