Company News Jul 9, 2019 12:00 PM
Minister Karliczek visits thyssenkrupp steel mill
Company moving towards CO2-free steel production
Anja Karliczek, Germany’s Minister for Education and Research, visited thyssenkrupp AG’s Duisburg site on Tuesday to learn about the company’s climate strategy with regard to steel production. thyssenkrupp plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from steel production by over 80 percent by 2050.
Minister Karliczek visited blast furnace 9 and the Carbon2Chem technical center, both part of the parallel strategy thyssenkrupp is pursuing to reduce CO2 emissions from steel production. The aim of the Carbon2Chem project, which is being funded to the tune of more than 60 million euros by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is to convert steel mill gases, including the CO2 they contain, into basic chemicals. Blast furnace 9 represents the so-called hydrogen route, in which thyssenkrupp will gradually replace carbon with hydrogen as the reducing agent to prevent CO2 from being created in the first place.
thyssenkrupp expects the Carbon2Chem technology to be available on an industrial scale before 2030. The hydrogen route should become fully effective by 2050. It will make the biggest contribution to direct avoidance of emissions.
Anja Karliczek: “By 2030 we need to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by three times the amount we achieved between 2000 and 2017. Our aim must be to make our economy greener so as to maintain our prosperity and social cohesion. We must protect the climate and safeguard the integrity of creation. But we must also ensure that key industries such as steel and chemicals remain in Germany. Research and innovation help us in this. They are a basic requirement for an effective and credible climate policy. Above all we need solutions that will lead us towards a carbon-neutral circular economy. This kind of progress will result in a better quality of life for everyone. That’s why BMBF is putting major efforts into developing climate-friendly technologies for practical application.”
Guido Kerkhoff, CEO of thyssenkrupp AG: “The threats posed by climate change affect us all. As an industrial company with operations around the globe we are in a particularly good position to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable products and processes. Over 90 percent of our own emissions come from steel production. So it is only logical that we are taking action in our core business with a twin-track strategy.”
thyssenkrupp has developed a comprehensive climate strategy with the clear aim of being fully climate neutral from 2050 onwards. It applies equally to the company’s own production operations, the energy it purchases and its products. As early as 2030 thyssenkrupp plans to cut emissions from production and outsourced energy by around 30 percent. Emissions from the use of its products are expected to fall by 16 percent by 2030. thyssenkrupp’s new climate strategy is based on the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.
Twitter: @thyssenkrupp_en
Company blog: https://engineered.thyssenkrupp.com