A NEW report from a London-based climate think-tank, Ember, says the steel industry needs to do more to counter greenhouse gas emissions, both of CO2 in steelmaking and of methane released in the mining of coking coal.
The Ember report notes that more than a year has passed since 150 countries including Australia signed a Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions of what the United Nations describes as a "short-lived but powerful" greenhouse gas.
Steelmaking emissions are also on the agenda of a two-day symposium to be held in Newcastle early next month, hosted by the Centre for Ironmaking Materials Research, a joint venture between the University of Newcastle's Institute of Energy and Resources (NIER) and BHP.
The International Symposium on Sustainable Coke Making and Iron Making has attracted a roster of international speakers, with experts from leading steel producers speaking on the challenges and opportunities presented by the push to reduce emissions.
Molycop's Comsteel plant at Waratah is an electric arc furnace, while the Newcastle rolling mills operated by Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance process raw steel produced at the Whyalla blast furnaces.
Both companies are spending on research and development to find ways to decarbonise their production and their supply chains.
The organisers of the Newcastle symposium on February 4 and 5 say the steel industry is one of the world's biggest industrial emitters, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions.
The authors of the Ember report - "Why the steel industry needs to tackle coal mine methane" - say the global methane pledge means cutting methane emissions by 30 per cent in the seven years to 2030.
They say coking coal demand must fall by 83 per cent to meet "net zero by 2050", but the total of pledges so far would only reduce coking coal sales by 11 per cent.
Steel and aluminium makers can theoretically "green" their products by using renewable electricity, but the latest OECD figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show the scale of the task.
The IEA graph above shows gas is the major fuel for generators, producing about 2700 terrawatt-hours (Twh) of electricity in the first ten months of last year.
Coal accounted for just under 1700 Twh and other "combustible fuels" (diesel, timber, bio-mass) providing another 500 Twh - about the same amount as solar.
The IEA says renewables accounted for 32 per cent of electricity generated in the 38 OECD countries, which do not include the biggest emitter, China.
