Creating a Sustainable Future: Europe's Leadership in Green Steel Innovation

Europe’s steel industry is transforming by propelling new carbon taxes and spearheading innovative approaches to reduce the carbon footprint of steel production.

FREMONT, CA: Europe's steel sector is changing for the better regarding environmental sustainability. The continent will have approximately 50 green and low-carbon steel projects by 2030. The growing price of carbon and EU regulations aimed at encouraging polluters to lower their emissions and drive the focus on green steel in Europe. This push is aided by regulations such as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is presently in trial mode and imposes the bloc's carbon price on some imports, such as steel, from nations without comparable emission taxes.

Thus, as the carbon border tax is implemented, free carbon permits for EU steel companies are progressively being phased out.

By the end of the decade, about 25 per cent of Europe's steel needs will come from low-carbon sources. Industry associations Eurofer and Worldsteel report that European steel production was 136 million metric tons. Adopting low-carbon systems is crucial, especially in Europe, where electric-arc furnaces manufacture the remaining steel, and coal-fired blast furnaces account for 57 per cent of total steel production.

European investments have the potential to put the continent ahead of the United States in the production of low-carbon steel. Europe would have access to a much greater local supply of green steel.

Achieving climate targets depends on cleaning up the steel industry since steel is a key component in building the technologies and infrastructure needed for the energy transition.