European automotive producers are driving the demand for steel grades involving reduced generation of carbon dioxide, in their attempts to reduce supply-chain emissions, and are teaming-up with steelmakers to explore the emerging green steel prototypes.
Pressure to meet climate targets
An estimated 20% of the automotive industry's emissions come from the manufacturing stage, according to CDP - formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project - an international non-profit organisation that enables companies to disclose their environmental impact.
With the automotive industry's shift toward electric vehicles and the removal of tail-pipe emissions, supply chain emissions become the next area of focus - and this includes steel suppliers.
Swedish steelmaker SSAB has told Fastmarkets that once tail-pipe emissions have been eliminated, emissions in the supply chain, which come under Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) protocols, make up the main part of each vehicle's carbon footprint, so there is great interest among automotive producers in reducing these emissions.
At this month's COP26 climate-control meeting in Glasgow, automotive producers including Volvo, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar-Land Rover and General Motors pledged to accelerate the transition toward zero-emission vehicles by 2040, as...