FAQS & GLOSSARY

Here you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Green Steel and sustainability, as well as brief explanations of the most important terms.

FAQs

What is "Green Steel"?

Right now, there is no universal definition of green steel. It is often used as an umbrella term to describe any steel with reduced carbon emissions during production. We think only steel with the lowest possible carbon emissions should be called “green.” meaning steel produced using direct reduced iron + green hydrogen or an electric arc furnace + 100% scrap and renewable electricity to eliminate emissions as far as possible. Other steel with lower emissions is “carbon reduced.”

When will "Green Steel" be available?

Green steel from scrap and other carbon-reduced steel products are available today – especially for long steel. Green steel from green hydrogen is at the pilot stage. Commercial uptake is expected in 2024/25. Scaling up volumes will take time, as this requires a) established steel producers to change their production processes or b) new entrants using new technologies (such as H2 Green Steel) to reach industrial production size.

In which quantities will it be available?

Green steel from scrap and other carbon-reduced steel products can be purchased at industrial volumes from Kloeckner today. Thanks to key partnerships, we will be the first to sell >250,000 tons of green steel from hydrogen per year starting in 2025.

Will "Green Steel" be more expensive?

Studies and early pilot projects indicate that there will be a significant premium due to higher production costs and initial scarcity.

How will "Green Steel" be labeled? What does it mean for the customer processes?

Right now, there is no single label or certification that allows a customer to claim that they are purchasing green steel. Some steel producers are starting to have their products certified as green, but these certifications differ and are hard to compare. We want to make this easier for customers, so we have developed a universal standard and label.

How can Becker help us drive sustainability in our steel supply chain?

We are looking to help customers in three ways: 1. We help them gain a better understanding of the changing steel landscape and what this means for their organization. 2. We will enhance transparency for them by tracking emissions for our steel products including the entire supply chain. 3. Thanks to our long-term partnerships, we secure reliable volumes of hard-to-source green steel and other carbon-reduced steel products for them even in times of scarcity.

How much CO2e will "Green Steel" save?

How much green steel will save in terms of emissions depends on the starting point. Presuming an average ton of flat steel from a blast furnace as the starting point, green steel can reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by up to ~95%. Carbon-reduced steel from an electric arc furnace achieves a 45% reduction, while scrap-based EAF steel reduces emissions by ~75%.

Is there a minimum purchase for "Green Steel"?

We do not require a minimum purchase. But the overall market volume and the amount we can procure will be less than the demand for green steel and other carbon-reduced steel products. The earlier you contact us, the better your chances of early access and larger quantities.

Can "Green Steel" be purchased on the spot market?

In the future, green steel and other carbon-reduced steel products are likely to be attainable on spot markets. For the former, this will take years as production is scaling up and planned volumes are being pre-purchased today. For both varieties, it will be tricky in the beginning to ensure that you are actually getting what you want.

Will Becker make the emissions of its steel transparent?

We are working with our suppliers to provide transparency on the emission intensity of our carbon reduced steel products. We will validate this information and pass it on to our customers. We will disclose all emissions data from cradle to gate.

What does Klöckner do about its own emissions?

Avoiding and reducing emissions is a top priority for us. We have set ambitious SBTi*-certified reduction targets and are actually carbon neutral ourselves today. We use high-quality, certified compensation options to achieve this. Because as far as our planet is concerned, offsetting is not the same as actual emission reductions.

*Science Based Targets initiative, the leading certification of corporate decarbonization targets. It collaborates closely with the Carbon Disclosure Project and the GHG Protocol.

GLOSSARY

A-D

1.5° path	Emission reduction path that leads to 1.5° Celsius global warming compared to pre-industrial levels - ambition of the Paris Agreement.
Abatement	Combination of avoidance, reduction and removal. The term is used only in abatement curve.
Blast Furnace	Blast Furnace is one of the two predominant production pathways for steel, especially in Europe and Asia. The emissions of the Blast Furnace are more than twice those of the Electric Arc Furnace.
Breakthrough technologies	Technologies that produce low-carbon steel in a radically different way to the conventional Blast Furnace, DRI or EAF technology.
Climate Neutral / Net-Zero	State when a company's activities have no net effect on the climate. This includes that residual GHG emissions that cannot be eliminated are removed from the atmosphere. Climate Neutral and Net-Zero are typically used interchangeably: Climate Neutral also takes into account regional or local bio-geophysical effects on the climate, however these do not exist for most companies.1
Climate Positive	State when a company's activities remove more GHG from the atmosphere than it emits.
Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF)	CO2-emissions of a company in a given year along the entire value chain.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)	Integration of social and environmental concerns in business operations of a company and its interactions with stakeholders.
Direct Reduced Iron	Direct reduced iron is produced from iron ore via direct reduction. A gas or an elemental carbon usually serves as reductant. In the past, this has typically been natural gas or coal. In the future this might be Hydrogen.

E-P

Electric Arc Furnace	Electric Arc Furnace is one of the two predominant production pathways for steel. In the US it is even more common than the Blast Furnace route, which dominates in Europe and Asia. The emissions of the Electric Arc Furnace are around 45% less than those of the Blast Furnace.
Emissions	Short term for greenhouse gas emissions.
Environmental/Social/Governance (ESG)	Non-financial factors in a company's strategy and reporting, increasing focus of investors when evaluating company performance.
Greenhouse Gases (GHG)	Greenhouse Gases include CO2, CH4, N2O, HCFs, PFCs, SF6, NF3.1
Greenhouse Gas Protocol	The GHG Protocol is the leading carbon accounting body and headed by the World Resources Institute. It closely collaborates with the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Science Based Target initiative.
Green Steel	GHG are physically removed or sequestered from the atmosphere as a result of a specific intervention, e.g., carbon capture & storage, growing forests.1
Greenwashing	Refers to the act of making false or misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology, etc.
Hydrogen	Through the use of new technologies, hydrogen is a key vector that will allow GHG emissions from the iron and steel sector to be significantly reduced.
Life-Cycle Assessment	Assessment of the environmental impact of a product during its life cycle.
Offsetting (= Compensation = Neutralisation)	Procurement of offsetting certificates for emission abatement elsewhere and use of these certificates to count against own carbon footprint. Offsetting cannot be deducted from the corporate carbon footprint but needs to be reported separately. It does not count towards physical CO2-reduction needed to comply with science-based targets.2
Paris Agreement	Legally binding international treaty signed in 2015 to limit global warming to well-below-two, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, countries aim to make the world climate neutral by mid-century.3
Product Carbon Footprint	CO2-emissions of a product during its life cycle.

Q-Z

Reduction	Emissions to the atmosphere are reduced, i. e. a process or activity physically emits fewer or no greenhouse gases
Removal	GHG are physically removed or sequestered from the atmosphere as a result of a specific intervention, e.g., carbon capture & storage, growing forests1
SBTi	Science Based Target initiative. The leading certification of corporate decarbonization targets. It closely collaborates with the Carbon Disclosure Project and the GHG Protocol.
Scope 1	Direct emissions from a company's own facilities and from company vehicles.2
Scope 2	Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heating & cooling for own use.2
Scope 3 Upstream	Indirect emissions from supply chain (purchased goods and services, transportation and distribution, business travel, etc.). 2
Scope 3 Downstream	Indirect emissions from the use of the product (incl. distribution, end-of-life, etc.). 2
Well-below-two degrees (WB2D/1.75°) path	Emission reduction path that leads to well-below-two-degrees Celsius global warming compared to pre-industrial levels, as targeted in the Paris Agreement.
Zero Carbon Steel	Steel that needs to be produced without any CO2 emissions at all. This is a very high bar to reach, and it is difficult to conceive of a production technology that could achieve this in the short-term.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Steel

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Steel Production and Recycling