For some numbers on the factors making UK steel more or less competitive, see this report from EUROFER (from 2020, but mostly still holds). High raw material and labour costs are the main reasons why UK production costs are towards the higher end, with CO2 costs ~2%.
www.eurofer.eu/assets/news/...
The fact is that the BFs at Scunthorpe only have a very short remaining lifetime under any ownership but providing stability and security of production during a transition to alternative production is preferable. This is not a commitment to fossil-based steel but to an orderly transition.
Jonathon Reynolds repeatedly committed to the modernisation and decarbonisation of future steelmaking in Parliament yday. This did not look like a backing away from NZ, as this piece claims, but a firm restatement from a member of cabinet other than Miliband.
The main climate policy set to impact industries in the UK (and Europe) is the Emissions Trading System (ETS) but these facilities still receive a free allocation of emission certificates, so pay no cost today.
Whilst climate policies (through higher electricity prices) will have a bigger impact on EAFs, and even that is mostly the result of high gas prices, the impact on BFs will be low as they use relatively little electricity.
A pretty confused piece that reads as though the author watched a different Commons debate to the rest of us.
UK deindustrialisation precedes climate policy, impact of climate policies on BFs are marginal and Labour have repeatedly committed to decarbonise future production.
February cycle count totals for the years 2017 to 2025, by direction. 2025 shows a slight increase on 2024, but this is misleading because 2024 was a leap year. 2025 has the highest counts for any year.
A cumulative chart showing cycle counts for 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The 2025 count is in first place for most of the month.
February 2025 has been a good one for the Oxford Road Cycleway. For the first time in February, over 6,000 cyclists were recorded in a day and over 3,000 northbound (25 Feb). Factoring in last February's extra day, we saw 7% growth overall, and new monthly records in either direction.
Oof. That’s ‘world-beating’ alright. Can you share a v rough cost breakdown beyond the tube trailer?
With this news from China, is there new cause for optimism in countries and companies agreeing on a common definition, which can underpin trade deals, cross-border investment and limit the growth of new dirty capacity?
This was the same issue that the US and the EU were fighting over under the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium, or GASSA. Talks ultimately broke down over different approaches to measuring emissions and defining green steel, as well as level of market access.
This represents a major step towards convergence on green steel standards, with the world’s largest national steel association now supporting an approach adopted by several other organisations. A great explainer from the IEA on how this came about.
www.iea.org/commentaries...
A chart showing 5 different emission intensity thresholds, varying by level of emissions and share of scrap.
In late Nov, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) launched its own ‘Low Carbon Embodied Emissions Steel’. This is based on the ‘sliding scale’ framework initially proposed by the IEA, and supported by the G7, in 2021.
There doesn’t seem to be much of an industry decarbonisation community on here yet, so hoping a few threads on recent developments might help build a bit more conversation.
First up - countries and companies agreeing standards for what they consider to be ‘green steel’.
Interesting, wasn’t aware. Let’s hope so!
What are the links between Northvolt and Stegra?
Good to see another demonstration-scale project using hydrogen for steel in India, now the fastest growing steel market in the world. The third such demo, alongside existing plans from JSW and JSPL. A way to go before we see commercial-scale projects but encouraging nonetheless.
An interesting model which could be replicated here in the UK; instead of sinking an ever-increasing amount into the existing gas grid, which we’ll need to decommission before the end of its technical life.
We are excited to share our working paper: Introducing and applying the Climate Institutions Analysis Framework (CIAF): A comparative analysis of climate institutions in Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia using the CIAF tinyurl.com/2enbnt29 (1/5)
Cool job klaxon 📢
Come work with us at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) on the transition away from fossil gas.
We have a new role advertised for someone to work on gas regulation in the context of the energy transition.
www.raponline.org/who-we-are/c...
