Steel mill interior. Image courtesy of Payton Chung under Creative Commons License
Coal’s grip on the global electricity sector is loosening as more utilities and companies invest in renewable energy. But one major coal consumer—the steel industry—is finding it harder to kick its habit.
Steel companies make nearly 2 billion tons of high-strength material every year for bridges, buildings, railways, and roads. The furnaces that melt iron ore to make steel consume vast amounts of coal. As a result, the industry accounts for roughly 8 percent of annual carbon dioxide emissions, according to McKinsey and Company, as well as a toxic soup of air pollutants.