Our SteelZero initiative has convened two roundtables of prominent leaders in the renewable energy and automotive industries, to drive the demand for net zero steel.
Ørsted, a founding member of SteelZero, supported the first renewable energy roundtable on 30 June. This brought together stakeholders from across the steel value chain, from wind turbine manufacturers to substation suppliers. The second roundtable, on 1 July, convened players in the automotive sector to better understand the challenges that suppliers and users of steel face to decarbonise.
These roundtables precede a set of working group sessions that will take place from September to March 2022, to harness and amplify leading businesses’ commitment to use net zero steel.
Bringing together leaders from across these sectors is crucial to building momentum for a global call to action to decarbonise the steel industry. Sharing knowledge across the steel value chain is vital to support collective industry action, encourage clear and supportive policies, and to show intent to investors and consumers. This focuses attention, overcomes uncertainty, boosts collective confidence and technical knowledge, and creates the partnerships needed to succeed.
Steel is a key component used in the production of renewable energy infrastructure such as wind turbines. It can account for 50% of renewable energy producers’ supply chain emissions. Whereas, the automotive sector alone accounts for 12-15% of global steel demand. Both sectors have a crucial role to play in the transition to a net zero steel industry.
SteelZero and its members are sending a strong co-ordinated demand signal to producers that there’s a market for net zero steel. Given that we have less than 10 years to halve global carbon emissions to get the world on track to reach net zero by mid-century, decarbonising steelmaking needs to be a critical part of the journey. And we have to start today.