greentec steel
We supply steel in greentec steel Edition
12. April 2023
We supply steel in greentec steel Edition
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Volkmar Held
As a freelance writer, Volkmar Held reports for voestalpine on topics that move people. The content of his stories ranges from archaeometallurgy to future technologies.
Since the end of 2021, we have been keeping a promise to the future: we are supplying a greentec steel Edition of all the flat steel products manufactured at our Linz site. The steel produced with a reduced carbon footprint is already proving its value in a diverse portfolio of applications.
Since 2021, the Steel Division has been supplying its customers with CO₂-reduced steel—the greentec steel Edition. Although produced with fewer emissions it is by no means a lesser version of other voestalpine steels. Instead, it is several steps ahead. And as voestalpine steel, it offers the same, unique performance.
What is the greentec steel Edition?
Even metallurgists are unlikely to be able to differentiate low-emission steel from regular steel because the greentec steel Edition secures its sustainability advantage through changes in the production route.
The manufacturing process is further enhanced for this special steel edition. Some of the measures taken include:
- Partially replacing coke in the blast furnace with hydrogen reducing agents
- Maximizing the proportion of scrap in crude steel production
- Using green electricity
The optimized process currently reduces CO₂ emissions by around ten percent over steel produced in the conventional way.
Where are the savings?
The emissions savings are allocated to the steel based on an allocation model: The CO₂ savings demonstrably achieved in the production process are credited to an account. voestalpine experts calculate the scale of the savings using the internationally recognized ISO 14064-2 standard. These credits can then be allocated to selected product quantities. Customers who buy greentec steel Edition products from voestalpine receive a declaration guaranteeing their carbon footprint. And the carbon footprint of greentec steel Edition products is lower than usual thanks to the optimized and more sustainable production route.
voestalpine has the LRQA Group, a global leader in this certification area, verify that all emission savings are calculated accurately and that all CO₂ account entries are correct.
Continuous CO₂ reduction with greentec steel
From heaters to construction cranes
Since the end of 2021, the voestalpine Steel Division has been offering all flat steel and heavy plate products with a carbon-reduced footprint.
"All products have the excellent material and processing properties for which voestalpine is internationally known and appreciated. We can offer a high-quality and transparent solution to all our customers looking for an instantly recognizable, traceable and, above all, significant saving in their carbon footprint."
Delivery greentec steel
The use of greentec steel Edition products in the rail sector delivers a multiple sustainability advantage. On top of the advantages inherent in this low-emission mode of transport, there is an additional benefit from deploying greentec steel Edition TransAnt freight cars. For example, the Polish freight car rental company EUROWAGON is using 25 new wagons in the TransAnt lightweight design.
Other greentec steel Edition products have also been supplied to:
- OSO Hotwater (NOR) for use in heaters, heat pump boilers, and storage tanks
- FIGO (AT) who has been manufacturing greentec steel Edition roof and facade elements since 2023
- Flamco (NL) for building technology, e.g., pressure expansion vessels for drinking water
- Brucha (AT) for facade construction, e.g., BRUCHAPaneel made from the greentec steel Edition of colofer®
- Tadano Group (JP/DE) who manufactures all-terrain hybrid cranes made from greentec steel Edition heavy plate
This demonstrates that greentec steel Edition products are suitable for a wide range of applications. But as different as the customers and their industries are, they are all united in their desire to offer more environmentally friendly products with the help of voestalpine steel produced with fewer emissions.
"The decision to use voestalpine greentec steel was made because every sustainable company has a duty to contribute to even more energy-efficient solutions."
And anyone who would like to take a look at our CO₂-optimized steel is invited to visit the newly opened Raiffeisen Arena in Linz. The facade of the new soccer stadium is made from the greentec steel Edition of colofer® strip steel.
Our focus on greentec steel
Within the framework of our focus greentec steel, we provide an overview of our concrete steps on the way towards long-term CO₂-neutral steel production and the innovative processes we are using on this way. We provide information about the challenges we face and the breakthrough technologies we are already researching today in order to achieve our goal of CO₂-neutral steel production by 2050.
Volkmar Held