Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the (a) level of abatement of emissions from UK steelmaking by 2050, and (b) proportion of expected abatement mechanisms from (i) the use of hydrogen, (ii) fuel switching, (iii) alternative sources of carbon and (iv) carbon capture and storage.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy use emission projections[1] for different sectors of the economy including for Iron and Steel out to 2040 (see Annex C: Carbon dioxide emissions by IPCC). The emission projections show the Iron and Steel sector has carbon emissions of 9 Mt CO₂e by 2040.

The Department has published an Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy[2] which presents two options for decarbonisation of the Iron and Steel Industry by 2050:

i) The first option shows the abatement potential of carbon capture utilisation and storage (abatement of 6.7 Mt CO₂e);

ii) A second option of fuel switching to hydrogen and electric arc furnace. The second solution suggests hydrogen fuel switching of 3.9 MtCO2e and 3.5 MtCO2e of electric fuel switching by 2050.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-and-emissions-projections

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-decarbonisation-strategy