The urgent steps needed to decarbonize the steel sector, which accounts for 7 percent of global CO2 emissions and about 9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, largely focus on phasing out coal, which remains the backbone of primary steel production. Globally, 70 percent of steel is new, virgin steel, produced from iron ore and coal at 400-plus sites worldwide.
Emission Profile
BF-BOF production was 3.2 gigatons (Gt) of CO2 in 2021, according to Worldsteel year, accounting for approximately 86 percent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of the entire steel sector. To produce one ton of steel using the BF-BOF method, 0.77 tons of coal is required. According to a 2022 IEA report, methane leakage from metallurgical coal mining is significant, estimated at 1 GtCO2e per year.
Including methane emissions, Steel Watch estimates that steel production along the BF-BOF route emits 4.2 GtCO2e per year and 90 percent of the emissions for the entire industry. The consequence of this is a huge emission intensity of more than 3 tCO2e. per ton of steel produced via the blast furnace route.
The Future of Coal
Research has shown that three hard-to-reach sectors - iron and steel, chemicals and cement - account for nearly 60 percent of industrial energy demand. The iron and steel industry consumed 36 exajoules (Ej) of energy in 2024, accounting for 21 percent of total global industrial consumption. The share of coal in final energy consumption was
