NORTH
AMERICAN STEEL INDUSTRY: REDUCING ENERGY CONSUMPTION
The
North American steel industry is constantly reducing its need
for energy, thus minimizing our footprint on the environment.
Since World War II, the North American steel industry has
reduced its energy intensity by 60 percent.
The steel industry has reduced its energy consumption by 33%
since 1990--accounting for only 6 percent of the
total U.S. manufacturing energy consumption.
A
large portion of the energy consumption is represented by coal.
However, as steelmakers continue to use steel scrap to make new
steel, they are conserving natural resources and
reducing this energy consumption. By using steel scrap, rather
than natural resources, steelmakers reduce annual energy
consumption by an amount that would power 20 million households
for one year.
The steel industry continues to search for new ways of improving
the energy efficiency for its operations. In 2003, AISI joined
Climate VISION, a voluntary program administered by the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) to reduce GHG intensity (the ratio of
emissions to economic outputs). Because of the close
relationship between energy use and GHG emissions, the steel
industry has set energy targets and is actively funding research
of energy-efficient technologies to help achieve this goal.
Following this commitment, between 2002 and 2003, the steel
industry reduced its energy consumption per ton of steel shipped
by approximately 7 percent. The industry’s overall carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions per ton of steel shipped were reduced by
a comparable percentage during this same period.
Relative Energy Consumption of Iron vs. Competing Materials
Case History: improving the energy efficiency of automobiles
