Buying expensive steel made with a nascent technology, opens new tab fuelled by green hydrogen that barely exists yet?
According to an op-ed by Reuters, that is the prospect facing Europe’s automakers, already under pressure from intensifying Chinese competition, under European Union plans aimed at bolstering the bloc’s steel industry and still hitting its environmental targets.
In December, the EU shifted to a 90% cut in CO₂ emissions for all new cars from 2035 from an earlier 100% – dropping a full ban on combustion‑engine vehicles, which the industry had opposed due to the slow uptake of electric cars.
Under the new proposal, tied to the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act due to be presented on March 4, automakers, which account for a fifth of Europe’s steel demand, must compensate the remaining 10% through low‑carbon steel and alternative fuels.
The catch? European “green steel” projects have increasingly been delayed, paused or cancelled, as green hydrogen made with the use of renewable energy is proving expensive and not yet available at scale.
When available, such steel is expected to cost about a third more than the conventional product, according to pure-play green steel hopeful Stegra.
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