Steel industry, emissions down by up to 60% with green cement and steel

By implementing less carbon-intensive variants, emissions could be reduced by up to 66.7% in the case of steel and 42.3% in the case of prestressed concrete railway sleepers. This is the picture contained in the Ecosistemi Foundation's Besa3 report that will be presented today during the second day of the Compraverde Buygreen Forum in Rome. The study contains an analysis of the carbon embedded in railway materials and possible decarbonisation strategies for European infrastructures.

The analysis first of all examines the commitment made by European governments and the OECD on the decarbonisation of transport infrastructure, amounting to about 120 billion euro, and points out that about 80% of the emissions linked to these assets - railways, roads, bridges, tunnels and public mobility networks - derive precisely from steel, cement and concrete. Two sectors that alone account for 5% and 4% of the European Union's total greenhouse gas emissions, respectively.

The numbers of the report tell the industrial dimension of the phenomenon: in 2024 alone, 259,250 tonnes of steel for railway infrastructure and 149,077 tonnes of prestressed concrete sleepers were handled in the Italian railway infrastructure. In the European railway sector, on the other hand, the annual demand is approximately 2.2 million tonnes of steel and 5.5 million tonnes of cement.

And Italia? Unlike many European countries still strongly linked to traditional blast furnace production, Italia ranks among the most advanced steelmakers in terms of the circular economy thanks to the prevalence of production from electric furnace fed by recycled ferrous scrap. According to data reported in the study, more than 85 per cent of Italy's steel is in fact produced from secondary steel, against a European average of 44 per cent. As a result, the Italian steel industry is today among the most virtuous ones, being able to count on the lowest emission intensity in the world: about 0.7 tons of CO2 per ton of steel produced, against a global average of 1.5 tons. An industrial heritage that can represent a competitive assist for the steel industry in the game of the future green transformation of European infrastructures. Which must, however, reckon with the pressure of non-EU imports: since 2008, European steel production has decreased by 30%, while imports from countries outside the Union have exceeded 30 million tonnes per year. In parallel, European cement imports from non-EU countries have grown by 260% since 2016.

But which strategies can be accelerated to foster the green turn? The study dwells, in particular, on the strategic role of green public procurement, i.e. the system through which the public administration uses calls and tenders to reward products, materials and services with a lower environmental impact. And which, if further implemented, would allow a reduction in emissions of 21% in the cement sector and 18% in the steel sector.