In its march toward a carbon-neutral future, Volvo Cars is targeting how its steel is made. Its hope: To adopt a new "green steel" that promises to eliminate the need for coking coal in its manufacturing process.
If the idea works, it could take a significant bite out of the CO2 in the automaker's supply chain.
The steel industry is among the three biggest producers of carbon dioxide because the industry is dominated by an iron ore-based steel- making technology that uses blast furnaces that depend on coking coal.
Every ton of steel produced in 2018 emitted on average 1.85 tons of carbon dioxide, equal to about 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to the World Steel Association. That is why Volvo seeks to implement a process that could eliminate the use of coking coal — a major pollutant in steel making.