Thyssenkrupp, Europe’s Second Largest Steel Maker, Says it Will be Carbon Neutral by 2050

(At the Carbon2Chem pilot plant in Duisburg, thyssenkrupp transforms CO2 and other exhaust gases from steel production into something valuable. Image courtesy of Thyssenkrupp.)

Thyssenkrupp, Europe’s second largest steel maker, has announced that it will be carbon neutral from 2050 onward.

In 11 years, for example, the company says it will reduce emissions from its production and from purchased energy by 30%. In addition, Thyssenkrupp will reduce by 16% emissions resulting from the use of its products. In terms of its steel production, the company is using two approaches:

• Carbon2Chem project: Carbon2Chem converts the exhaust gases produced in steel production, which contain large amounts of CO2 among other substances, into valuable chemical raw materials. These can then be used to produce many useful products such as fuel, fertilizer or synthetics. Thyssenkrupp expects large-scale industrial use before 2030.
• Hydrogen: The hydrogen route is based on the use of “green” hydrogen, which is to augment and later replace coal as a reducing agent, so that in the long term no CO2 will be produced during steel production. The federal government of Germany and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia support both technologies. In addition, we are continuing our GEEP program to increase Group-wide energy efficiency and are also promoting the use of renewable energies in our own production. Thyssenkrupp expects this to be fully effective by 2050.

Further focal points of the company's new climate strategy are the expansion of the electromobility sector with production facilities for battery production and special materials for electric motors. In addition, it is active in the development of energy storage systems and is building electrolysis plants for converting electricity into hydrogen. This makes it possible to continuously use renewable energies, where the supply fluctuates depending on the weather conditions.