Photo by Guy Bowden on Unsplash
For decades, a select few have greatly benefited from the destruction of the planet. Their oil-driven businesses and investments paid out billions of dollars, while the pollution, destruction and climate mayhem they caused went unpunished. For years, it seemed like this myopic greed and disregard for planetary health would be unstoppable and propel us into a climate apocalypse. But it appears that the Vedic notion of Karma still holds merit, as these profiteers are now set to lose billions of dollars and, possibly, their way of life. But how?
This climate karma is most apparent in a recent report on the steel industry. You see, the steel industry is responsible for around 5% of CO2 emissions in the EU and 7% worldwide. This puts it firmly in the sights of governments looking to cut back their emissions to meet climate targets. As such, the steel industry is under massive pressure to shift away from coal furnace technology to far cleaner Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology over the next 5 to 10 years.
Currently, only 30% of steel is produced with EAF technology. By 2050, this proportion needs to rise to 53% in order to meet emissions targets. The rest will use primarily carbon-neutral hydrogen-fuelled furnaces, which are yet to be fully developed and rolled out.
But just last year, this massive growth seemed doubtful. In 2022, only 33% of the planned steel capacity was set to use EAF, whereas 67% planned to use coal. This means that while the steel industry is adopting lower-carbon technology, it is expanding its carbon-intensive technology far quicker, taking it further away from its emissions targets.
However, a new report from the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) has highlighted a significant shift in the steel industry. In 2023, EAF makes up 43% of planned steel capacity, while just 57% is planned on using coal. That’s a vast change from just a year ago. Sadly, this means that the steel industry’s carbon emissions are still set to grow as coal development is still outpacing EAF. But according to GEM, this marks a pivotal move by the steel industry, as it shows they…
