According to a study by Munich-based consultancy firm Roland Berger, the European steel industry should invest at least €100 billion to make steel carbon neutral by 2050.
According to the study, almost 60 percent of European steel is produced via highly carbon-intensive production. Some techniques are used by the European steel industry to reduce carbon but these methods are not enough to reduce carbon emissions on a large scale and so the development and implementation of new technologies is underway.
The study stated that some stimulus packages such as additional tax breaks, subsidies and financing should be offered by the EU or individual governments as companies will unlikely be able to make these investments by themselves and steelmakers will likely face financial problems following the coronavirus crisis.
According to the study, there is still no conclusive answer to the question of what the right technological solution is for extensive CO₂ reduction although hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) is the most advanced method and the transition needs to be started in the next five to 10 years to be completed by 2050. Accordingly, the European steelmaking industry should decide on which new technology to invest in within this period.
The European Commission had announced a new long-term strategy on climate protection in November 2018, aiming at fulfilling the targets of the UN's 2015 Paris Agreement. It calls for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, which means a 100 percent reduction of carbon emissions by that date.