EIT RawMaterials has partnered with Anglo American – a leading global mining company with a diversified portfolio of future-enabling products – to initiate steel decarbonisation.
Steel is a critical material that underpins global society, but it is not environmentally friendly, as its manufacturing process is currently estimated to produce around 8% of total global carbon emissions. Therefore, steel decarbonisation is vital.
The steel industry must develop and commercialise low-CO2 technologies in the next five to ten years to keep up with the green energy transition and offset the threat of climate change. This will mean exploring pathways for growth with a focus on bridging the gap between innovation-driven technology and industry stakeholders.
Anglo American: Supporting the reduction of carbon emissions in the steel industry
As a producer of premium iron ore products used in steel production, and in line with its ambition to reduce its Scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2040, Anglo American is supporting steel decarbonisation as part of a range of initiatives seeking to reduce the carbon intensity of the steelmaking value chain.
Innovators with novel technologies are strongly encouraged to apply to the challenge. Relevant focus areas include:
- Ore beneficiation for Direct Reduced Iron;
- Altering existing processes such as sintering and induration;
- Advanced Blast Furnace, DRI-Electric Arc Furnace, and alternative iron-making technologies;
- The increased use of scrap metal feedstock in high-quality flat steel production; and
- Carbon-capture utilisation or sequestration solutions.
Short-listed companies will be assessed by Anglo American’s Decarbonisation Ventures team for potential investment and provided access to a range of commercial and operational expertise to support them on their scale-up journey.
Both organisations have welcomed the initiative
Speaking of the policy to tackle steel decarbonisation, Bernd Schäfer, CEO of EIT RawMaterials, said: “It is the mandate of EIT RawMaterials to drive innovation and decarbonise the raw materials sector, from mining to recycling. However, it takes a global village and outstanding industry leadership and collaboration to look beyond their boundaries to solve solutions for the greater good – that is, to address the challenges of climate change.”
He continued: “EIT RawMaterials, Europe’s leading raw materials network, is proud to lead this initiative with Anglo American. By doing so, we hope this global Open Innovation Challenge will set a new benchmark for others to persist in finding bold and creative ways to engage with the world’s best innovators to solve our most pressing steel decarbonisation challenges.”
Benny Oeyen, Anglo American’s Executive Head of Market Development, added: “At Anglo American, we are committed to creating, accelerating, and investing in climate-positive startups as part of our purpose of re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives. We are looking at how we contribute to steel decarbonisation and also how we can reduce the emissions of our broader value chain.
“Building on our track record of supporting promising innovations across a range of emerging technology spaces, we look forward to reviewing the submissions to this challenge and leveraging our expertise, scale, and network to identify ideas with potential and support their growth.”
