© imago images/Rupert Oberhäuser
Emissions from steel mills contribute to climate change. On the other hand, technologies that rely on hydrogen and the use of carbon dioxide as raw materials should help.
The steel industry, which has long been a fundamental component of the German economic model, is in a bind. Every year, millions of tons of iron ore are melted into pig iron and further refined into steel in the smelting works of the large steel companies. These include simple, mass-produced steels for mechanical engineering or concrete construction, but also high-quality special steels, indispensable for offshore wind turbines and solar power plants, for example. Steel could thus be considered a sustainable material for the energy transition - if it weren't for an ugly one
