This is the third episode in EUROFER's Green Deal on Steel series: The pathways to low-carbon steelmaking.

Carbon-lean steelmaking relies on new ways of doing things. Current steelmaking technology is at its absolute limits. The ‘transition’ to low-carbon steel is actually a technological revolution.

The European steel industry has found two main ‘pathways’ that together could lead to 80-95% reductions in CO2 emissions from steel production by 2050. These pathways are reinforced by an overarching commitment to the circular economy through resource efficiency and the recycling of steel.

The technological pathways are Smart Carbon Usage and Carbon Direct Avoidance.

Smart Carbon Usage seeks to reintegrate so-called ‘process gases’ into the production process or to use carbon monoxide and dioxide as a raw material to make other, useful products.

Carbon Direct Avoidance includes hydrogen-based metallurgy and electricity-based reduction methods using green sources. In this framework, the Electric Arc Furnace route will be fundamental to strengthening the EU steel industry’s position in the circular economy.

If fully implemented, these pathways could change how we make steel in Europe.