Steel industry’s energy source switch backfires in Brazil

Wednesday, 11 February 2015 01:52:54 (GMT+3)   |   San Diego
       

In a study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers said that Brazil’s plan to reduce climate-changing emissions from the nation’s steel industry has failed, causing the amount of carbon pollution produced by the sector to double in less than a decade.

According to the study, the switch from using coal as a source of energy to charcoal resulted in a 100 percent rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions between 2000 and 2007, from 91 million tons to 182 million tons. Charcoal from plantation forests is considered carbon neutral, while the native forest-sourced charcoal that Brazilian steel producers used instead has a high carbon footprint (emitting up to nine times more CO2 than coal) in addition to contributing to deforestation.

The decision for Brazil’s steel industry to switch energy sources is linked to the UN-backed Clean Development Mechanism to incentivize environmental stewardship among developing nations.


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