The IEA Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap
In October 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap3. This document analyses the impacts and trade-offs of different technology choices and policy targets for the industry to be in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Under the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario, total direct emissions from the iron and steel sector fall by more than 50% by 2050 relative to 2019. On the same pathway, the emissions intensity of crude steel production must fall by 58%.
The IEA states that steel is vital to modern economies and notes that sustaining the projected demand growth in steel while reducing emissions poses immense challenges. While efficiency improvements will help the industry, there is a need to develop further and deploy a broad portfolio of breakthrough technology options and enabling infrastructure to achieve long term, deep reduction in emissions.
Furthermore, the IEA notes the critical role governments must play in ensuring a sustainable transition of the sector, and concludes with a call to action for governments, the steel industry, the research and NGO communities and other stakeholders.