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Existing natural gas based DRI technology can be transitioned to solely use hydrogen as the main energy and reductant. The transition to DRI production based on green hydrogen (produced using renewable energy) and blue hydrogen (which captures and stores any CO2 created during production) will help the steel industry to achieve net-zero by 2050.
While DRI based on green hydrogen has significant public support, hydrogen-DRI technology is still in development and hydrogen remains an expensive source of clean energy compared to alternatives.
There is much emphasis today on developing a hydrogen economy and there is no doubt that hydrogen will play a very important role in the decarbonisation of the steel industry. Our Innovative DRI pathway can also use other sources of energy such as biogas and natural gas by incorporating carbon capture and storage to avoid CO2e emissions.
As we have explained in previous Climate Action Reports and in section 2.2.2 of this report, we have identified two viable decarbonisation technology routes for steel: Smart Carbon and Innovative DRI.
We have done a lot of work developing technologies for these routes since the publication of our last report, with tangible progress made on several industrial-scale demonstration projects, particularly the Smart Carbon investments in Gent. This work has reinforced the potential that both Innovative DRI and Smart Carbon have to achieve net zero.
We are also cautiously optimistic about a third potential technology pathway – direct electrolysis of iron – which is currently in the research and development phase but showing good potential.
There is much emphasis today on developing a hydrogen economy and there is no doubt that hydrogen will play a very important role in the decarbonisation of the steel industry.
ARCELORMITTAL • CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 2 50
Smart Carbon, apart from having the potential to be the most cost competitive route to carbonneutral steel, also has other benefits. For example, it gives steelmaking a role in achieving carbonneutrality in the cement and plastics industries and provides plastics with a circularity it lacks today.
Currently, global cement production averages 0.8 tonnes of CO2e per tonne of cement produced, while emissions from the manufacture of most plastics and fabrics can be up to 4 tonnes of CO2e per tonne of material produced (excluding delayed emissions from end-of-life disposal or degradation). Each tonne of Smart Carbon steel generates 250kg.
Carbon ecosystem incorporating ‘natural’ and ‘synthetic’ circular carbon, external hydrogen injection and carbon capture and storage technology to deliver carbon-neutrality.
We are constructing several commercial-scale projects to test and prove a range of Smart Carbon technologies, with key projects coming on-stream from 2022. These technologies also have the potential to use hydrogen as a substitute for fossil fuels within the blast furnace, further reducing CO2 emissions.
IGAR.
BF-BOF.
Sustainable biomass.
Fossil fuels.
Carbon capture and storage.
Capturing, transporting and storing any non-circular carbon sources Carbon transport Carbon storage.
We also remain excited by the potential of our Smart Carbon pathway.
Smart Carbon transitions blast furnace technology to zero carbon-emissions steelmaking through use of clean electricity (including in the form of hydrogen), circular carbon (such as sustainable biomass and waste from end-of-life plastics), and carbon capture and storage of emission of residual remaining fossil fuels use.
Although other steelmakers are also developing elements of a Smart Carbon route, ArcelorMittal is focusing on development of the complete Smart.
Section 5 Technology 5.1 Technology pathways.
Smart Carbon.
Smart Carbon, our route to carbon removal: we can use bioenergy to turn smart carbon into a carbon removal process (BECCS) if we scale up CCS significantly.
of slag, a substitute for cement, and 200kg of biomaterials for plastics and fibres industries.
In addition, combining use of circular carbon with scaling up of CCS has the potential to transform steelmaking intro a carbon removal system called Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). Here the growth of the original biomass draws CO2 from the atmosphere and then, when used to make electricity, the carbon is stored underground in CCS projects rather than realised into the atmosphere. This would have the net effect of removing carbon from the atmosphere for every tonne of steel produced.
Once the relevant technologies have been fully implemented, the Smart Carbon would result in:
The high temperature-controlled reduction environment of iron making produces 250kg carbon-neutral slag, a direct substitute for cement. Production of slag through this route in Europe covers approximately 10-15% of demand for cement.
One tonne of carbon-neutral steel 250kg carbon-neutral cement 200kg carbon-neutral biomaterials.
Carbon removal potential.
In Europe, polyethylene-based plastics account for more than half of the 64 million tonnes of plastics and fibres produced. If the entire European steel industry switched to Smart Carbon, we could supply more than 60% of Europe’s polyethylene-based plastic needs, equivalent to 30% of the entire demand for plastic and fibre.
Increased use of circular carbon, using sustainable biomass and waste combined with scaling up CCS not only makes steelmaking carbon neutral, but can turn the industry into a net contributor to removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
1t steel.
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It is important that we are able to make real and meaningful progress in the coming decade, both in increasing scrap use where possible and in preparing for the more widespread use of these technologies.
That includes transitioning to natural gas based DRI as a precursor to introducing hydrogen and continuing to evolve the Smart Carbon offering which involves multiple technologies and therefore affords greater flexibility to adjust to local steelmaking conditions.
Section 5 Technology 5.1 Technology pathways.
Innovative DRI and Smart Carbon: two complementary pathways.
Iron oxide electrolysis.
Direct electrolysis of iron.
Circular carbon.
Clean electricity and green hydrogen.
Clean electricity.
Iron ore Grinding.
The decade after 2030 may bring with it prospect of a new technology maturing to offer a third route for the decarbonisation of steelmaking. ArcelorMittal is one of seven partners and the coordinator of the “Siderwin” project based in Maizières, France. The project is developing a technology using electricity for the direct electrolysis of iron, by-passing the use of carbon or hydrogen.
Direct electrolysis of iron: future potential technology.
The Siderwin development is advancing rapidly, currently deploying an engineering-scale prototype with a production capacity of 100kg of pure iron slabs. The project, fully-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 fund is due to complete installation and testing in 2022.
Figure X : Direct electrolysis route.
ARCELORMITTAL • CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 2 52.
Innovative DRI Smart Carbon + Zero carbon-emissions if green hydrogen as fuel + Reduction of other air emissions + Increased employment opportunities in the clean electricity – green hydrogen value chain + Lower cost vs. hydrogen-DRI + Capable of being deployed and making a CO2 impact before 2030 + Capable of generating carbon-negative steel + Supports decarbonisation of cement and plastics + Improves circularity of plastics + Greater flexibility to adjust to local steelmaking conditions + Additional employment to existing BF-BOF via.
CCUS technologies and related business activity - Limited availability of green hydrogen - Expensive - Less direct employment - Continues to generate other air emissions - Continues to use fossil fuels (albeit with CCS)
Both Innovative DRI and Smart Carbon will be necessary to reduce CO2e, yet neither are fully technically or commercially proven. There is significant variation across countries and regions in existing climate change policy frameworks and in the availability and cost of the clean energy, as well as the differences in social acceptance of differing technology solutions.
Steel’s circular advantage.
As a permanent material – and one that is infinitely and fully recyclable with no loss of quality in most cases – steel is an important material group and fundamental to achieving a truly circular economy. Today, already 85-95% of steel reaching its end of life is re-melted to produce new steel products. These circularity credentials are unmatched by the other key material groups.
Plastics, cement and, to a lesser extent, aluminium have limited circularity as they are not always easy to segregate and are not easily recycled back into replacement products. Products like cement can, at best, be downcycled at the end of their life to create aggregate materials.
This is reflected in the lower recycling rates for these material groups. Along with sustainablysourced wood, steel’s intrinsic circularity credentials stand out. Its magnetic properties make it easy to segregate and be recycled back into new steel products. Additionally, scrapped steel can be melted back to make new steel with similar properties, to replace the materials it was originally used for.
At the point when scrap availability is large enough, the steel-making process will be able to be truly circular. This stands steel apart from other materials.
6.1.1 The shift to towards a circular economy.
Meeting the targets in the 2015 Paris Agreement and preventing the average global temperature rising by more than 1.5°C, requires a long-term, fundamental shift in the way we consume goods and products.
Given the threat posed by climate change, it is right for global efforts to focus on rebalancing the planet’s carbon cycle to eliminate human induced concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The drive to decarbonise aligns with a broader drive to transition to a truly circular economy. In simple terms, a circular economy is an economic system that seeks to eliminate waste through the continual use of resources. By reusing, sharing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing and recycling, circular systems create a closed-loop that minimises both the use of resources and the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions. Circular systems can be contrasted to the traditional “take, make, use, dispose” approach of linear economic models. Long-term policies should therefore be designed to transition the economy towards carbon-neutrality and also towards a fully circular economy.
For the material world, this means ultimately transitioning to producing all materials from recycled materials with clean energy when they reach their end of life, minimising stress to the environment for extractive industries such as mining. To be sustainably circular, society will need to have reached a level of material intensity where there is no need to increase the amount of material stock in the economy.
Section 6 The bigger picture 6.1 Circularity in our world and in the steel industry.
Material group kg CO2 emitted/kg of material Global production mix 0 5 10.
Steel.
Aluminium.
Plastic.
Cement produced from primary sources produced from secondary sources.
Steel’s circularity is unmatched by any other major material group.
SOURCE: ArcelorMittal estimates from public sources.
ARCELORMITTAL • CLIMATE ACTION REPORT 2 53
Section 6 The bigger picture 6.1 Circularity in our world and in the steel industry.
Steel • Steel is not only a vital material that builds the infrastructure of our world, but also one with leading circularity credentials.
• Steel is an iron-based metal alloy that uses few alloying elements, as many of its properties are achieved through thermal treatment. Most alloying elements can be removed in the remelting process, rendering steel as one of the most versatile materials to recycle into equivalent products.
• Steel is infinitely and fully recyclable with no loss of quality in most cases. • 85-95% of end-of-life steel is currently recycled back into new steel products and accounts for over 20% of today’s steel production.
Aluminium • Like steel, aluminium is an infinitely recyclable material. • Yet aluminium is a highly alloyed metal, with different alloy mixes for different applications. Mixing different aluminium alloys diminishes aluminium’s recyclability as alloys are difficult to remove once incorporated, and unnecessary alloys will act as pollutants in new aluminium alloys.
• The intrinsic high value of aluminium has led to tight closed loop recovery systems for the same aluminium alloys, such as beverage cans, meaning recycling rates remain relatively high for aluminium.
• Currently, around 76% of end-of-life aluminium is recycled into new aluminium products and makes up around 32% input of global aluminium production. Source: World Aluminium Recycling Factsheet 2020.
Focus on end-of-life scrap.
End use supply 1400mt.
End of life scrap.
End of life Inputs.
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