Detailed explanation
Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA) is a concept that aims to reduce the significant CO2 emissions from steel production. The steel sector traditionally has high CO2 emissions due to the use of coal in the production process. CDA addresses this by replacing fossil carbon sources with renewable energy, such as hydrogen and electricity from sustainable sources (e.g. wind, water and solar energy).
The European Commission's strategic vision ‘A Clean Planet for All’ emphasises the importance of CDA technologies. It is assumed that a profound reduction in CO2 emissions in the steel sector is possible through a combination of different technological approaches.
These approaches include
- Steel recycling
- Carbon capture and storage
- process integration
- Electricity and hydrogen-based metallurgy
These alternatives could achieve CO2 reductions of up to 95% by 2050 compared to 1990 emission levels.
Key technologies
A central element of the CDA is the direct reduction of iron with hydrogen. This is seen as a key technology for CO2-neutral steel production. By using hydrogen, iron oxides can be reduced without fossil fuels, which significantly lowers CO2 emissions.
In addition, the improvement of plasma melting processes and the development of electrode technologies are being driven forward in order to achieve CO2 reductions. The electrolytic reduction of iron oxides at high or low temperatures is also being researched to enable low-emission production methods.
CDA technologies are part of the European Union's ‘Clean Steel Partnership’, which addresses various areas of research and innovation. Projects in this area aim to replace fossil carbon-based energy with renewable energy. And develop innovative approaches for the direct reduction of iron using hydrogen.
Examples of our suppliers to the steel industry
Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA) is already being tested in numerous projects worldwide to reduce CO₂ emissions in the steel sector. The following are examples of our suppliers' pioneering projects, without any guarantee of completeness:
- ArcelorMittal: XCarb®
- Arvedi: Arvzero®
- Salzgitter AG: SALCOS®
- SSAB: FOSSIL FREE STEEL®
- Tata Steel: Zeremis®
- Thyssenkrupp: bluemint®
- Voestalpine: greentec®
The challenges
Despite this progress, there are still considerable challenges. The high cost of green hydrogen, the availability of renewable energy and the development of the necessary infrastructure are major obstacles. In addition, the scaling of these technologies is necessary to meet the demand for low-emission steel worldwide.
Future prospects
In the long term, CDA technologies are expected to revolutionise the steel industry. In combination with other approaches such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU), they could enable an almost complete decarbonisation of the sector.
