Germany Fights to Green Production of Most Important Commodity
- Transition to clean steel is early test of industry transition
- Steel is central to industry and a ‘massive polluter’
A construction site for the Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking green steel project, at the Salzgitter mill.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergIn Germany’s industrial heartland, a slender spire of tubes rises amid a cluster of smoke-belching foundries. Owned by Salzgitter AG, Germany’s second-largest steelmaker, the installation is an ambitious attempt to revolutionize the steelmaking process, and ultimately, secure a critical piece of the country’s economy.
Steel is the most important material for Germany’s manufacturing sector, going into everything from Volkswagen AG automobiles to the advanced machinery made by Siemens AG. The metal is “the starting point of any value chain that you can think of,” Salzgitter Chief Executive Officer Gunnar Groebler said in a Bloomberg TV interview, describing it as “an important factor in any industry in any economy.”