Scaling Up Hydrogen: The Case For Low- Carbon Steel

The steel sector – which accounts for 7% of global carbon emissions – could be one of the largest demand sectors for low-carbon hydrogen. Hydrogen-based steelmaking could decarbonize over 40% of global steel production by 2050. The costs of hydrogen-based steel are already in a range acceptable to some buyers, while the policy frameworks and commercial justification for scaling low- carbon steel are starting to take shape. This Climate Technology Coalition whitepaper provides an overview on hydrogen’s role in steel decarbonization, and outlines commercial and policy recommendations that, if implemented, should push ahead the timeline for hydrogen-based steel.

This paper was commissioned as part of BloombergNEF’s work as Research Partner for the Bloomberg New Economy Climate Technology Coalition. The Coalition was formed in 2022 by a global group of stakeholders that are well placed to accelerate industrial decarbonization. They have set an agenda to identify and rapidly scale up the next generation of climate-critical green technologies that will be instrumental in achieving the world’s climate goals to avoid climate catastrophe. The world simply cannot wait for polluting industries to slowly shift strategy and technology.
The Coalition was formed in 2022 by a global group of stakeholders that are well placed to provide insights on approaches to industrial decarbonization. It has set an agenda to identify and support the rapid scale-up of the next generation of climate-critical green technologies that will be instrumental in achieving the world’s goals to avoid climate catastrophe. The planet simply cannot wait for polluting industries to slowly shift strategy and technologies. This initiative seeks to inspire and lead by example. It will take getting into specifics to make any tangible progress and, to that end, the Coalition – composed of technology specialists, researchers, financiers, industrialists and public sector experts – is initially focused on tackling roadblocks to scaling up the clean hydrogen ecosystem, and further on decarbonizing ‘hard-toabate’ sectors (industries where cleaner alternatives are currently lacking or prohibitively expensive) through initiatives on low-carbon ammonia, methanol and steel. Coalition members have given insight into their own projects and efforts in these areas, some of which can be found in this BNEF-produced report. The Coalition finds it encouraging that BNEF’s thorough analysis shows potential for decreasing green hydrogen costs, identifying pockets of demand, and increasing clean hydrogen and ammonia production capacity.

Steering Committee:

Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies,
and three-term Mayor of New York City
Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and Chair of Brookfield Asset
Management; Head of Transition Investing; Chairman of the Board, Bloomberg, Inc.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons
Bruce Flatt, Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Asset Management
Dr. Andrew Forrest AO, Chairman, Fortescue
Sara Menker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gro Intelligence
H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer,
Mubadala
Neil Shen, Founding and Managing Partner of HongShan (Sequoia China)
Lord Adair Turner, Chairman, Energy Transitions Commission
Lei Zhang, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Envision

Coalition members:

The Climate Technology Coalition’s research partner, BloombergNEF (BNEF), is a strategic research provider covering global commodity markets and the disruptive technologies driving the transition to a low-carbon economy.