Can steel be more sustainable
Steel has never looked so green – The University of Warwick is part of £35m research project to transform UK’s steel industry
Launched in 2019, The University of Warwick’s WMG are working with twenty partners, including three academic institutions, on a seven-year research program (the SUSTAIN project) that aims to make the steel industry carbon-neutral by 2040. Steel is the most widely used structural material in the world: if a product isn’t made of steel, it will have been made using steel – so this sustainable transformation is a vital move for the industry.
Steel is at the heart of UK manufacturing sectors, such as cars, construction, packaging and defence. With coal currently the primary energy source in the steel industry, a switch needs to be made to using waste materials, renewable energy, and hydrogen in order to meet carbon neutral goals, and produce green, cleaner, smarter steel.
The SUSTAIN project has three clear ambitions. One, to develop systems for carbon neutral iron and steelmaking by 2040. Two, to double steel gross value added (GVA) by 2030. And three, to implement world-leading intelligent infrastructure by 2030. This should hopefully boost jobs in the industry by up to 35,000.
The collaboration will investigate new ways of making the industry’s processes and products greener, such as capturing carbon emissions and re-processing societal and industrial waste streams. Steelmaking also involves a huge volume of data, so SUSTAIN will develop new ways of acquiring and using this data in new metallurgical processes, which can deliver bespoke high-tech products.
Professor Claire Davis, WMG, says: “The network will be able to tackle the large issues facing the steel industry, particularly in becoming low energy, carbon neutral, dynamic and responsive to customer needs. It is an exciting time to be working on steel, as there are opportunities to contribute to making the planet a greener place.”
This is the first time that UK steel producers and representatives from the manufacturing sector have joined together as part of a co-ordinated research project. It is hoped that the SUSTAIN project will be a seed from which much wider research and innovation will grow across other industries.
The sustainability benefits
- Coal is the primary energy source in the production of steel, so this project will help with the switch to using renewable energy sources.
- UK legislation calls for carbon emissions to be cut by 2050 to 80-95% of 1990 levels. Currently, harvesting raw steel from its iron ore produces high levels of carbon emissions: for every tonne of new steel made, around 1.8 tonnes of CO2 is released. SUSTAIN will look at ways to capture these carbon emissions.
- Steel has always been widely recycled; for every tonne of new steel produced, just over one third uses recycled materials. However, 80% of the UK’s steel is still being recycled abroad. This project will reduce our reliance on new steel and maintain a UK-based steel industry.
- Steel is an important part of manufacturing sectors, used to build energy-positive buildings, wind turbines, and electric vehicles.