Germany drafts action plan for competitive climate-neutral steel production
Rheinische Post
The German government is working on an action plan to support the country's steel industry in becoming more competitive and climate friendly, writes Antje Höning in the Rheinische Post. Through the government's long-awaited national hydrogen strategy, the industry will receive support for producing "green steel" with renewable energies. Since 2010, the steel industry's production has fallen by about ten percent, while jobs in the sector fell by 4,000 to 86,000, the action plan states – and the economic impact of the coronavirus now further worsens the industry's outlook. Thirty percent of Germany'industry emissions from stem from the steel sector, Höning adds.
In the fight against climate change, hydrogen made with renewable electricity is increasingly seen as a panacea for sectors with particularly stubborn emissions, including heavy industry. Germany wants to become a global leader in the applicatipon of what has been dubbed "tomorrow's oil" and will flesh out its ambitions in a National Hydrogen Strategy, expected this week. A study by consultancy Roland Berger estimates that at least 100 billion euros of investments are necessary to make European steel production climate neutral by 2050.
