Steel made from green hydrogen and electric arc furnaces, or produced from scrap metal, could reduce CO2 emissions from car production in Europe by 6.9 million tonnes by 2030, the NGO network Transport & Environment (T&E) has revealed in a study published on Wednesday 10 July.
This is equivalent to avoiding the annual emissions of 3.5 million fossil fuel-powered cars. Moving to 40% ‘green’ steel would only add €57 to the price of an electric vehicle in 2030. Switching to 100% green steel by 2040 will only cost €8 more than using conventional steel, due to CO2 pricing and the lower production costs of green steel. However, securing the billions of euros of investment needed to produce low-carbon steel will depend heavily on the existence of a reliable off-take market for producers.
According to T&E, at least 40% of the steel used in new cars should be ‘green’ by 2030, rising to 75% by 2035 and 100% by 2040. Carmakers should be given an average target that can be achieved for all their new cars, allowing them to absorb the initial cost through top-of-the-range models. This objective can be introduced through the European regulation on end-of-life vehicles, which is currently being revised by legislators (see EUROPE 13442/16).
Read the analysis: https://aeur.eu/f/d0j (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)