Phasing out blast furnace climate targets

The authors find that the emissions commitment of current primary steel equipment is 21 Gt CO2eq, which is significantly lower than previous estimates of 52–65 Gt CO2eq. This suggests that future emissions are driven by the speed of novel technology and renewable energy deployment, rather than the long economic life of existing capital. The authors recommend improved monitoring of asset age and research into regulating emission-intensive equipment to avoid consuming the remaining carbon budget.

• Iron and steel production accounts for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the long economic life of production equipment has been identified as a barrier to meeting climate targets.
• Based on furnace-level data of historical operating patterns, the authors estimate the emissions commitment of current primary steel equipment at 21 Gt CO2eq, which is substantially lower than previous estimates ranging from 52 to 65 Gt CO2eq.
• Future emissions from the steel sector are primarily driven by the pace of renewable energy provision, the deployment of new technologies, and reductions in energy use and steel demand, rather than the persistence of long-lived capital.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2021). Phasing out blast furnace climate targets. https://www.sei.org/publications/phasing-out-blast-furnace-climate-targets

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Phasing out blast furnace climate targets. 2021. https://www.sei.org/publications/phasing-out-blast-furnace-climate-targets.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Phasing out blast furnace climate targets |date=20 October 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/phasing-out-blast-furnace-climate-targets |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2021phasing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Phasing out blast furnace climate targets}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/phasing-out-blast-furnace-climate-targets}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }