At a Thyssenkrupp blast furnace: Steel production should go green.
Image: Lucas Bäuml
The federal government is supporting steel manufacturers with billions in subsidies to convert to hydrogen. But does green steel Made in Germany actually have a future? Some economists are skeptical.
AWhen Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) recently attended the extraordinary works meeting of Arcelor Mittal in Bremen, he did not yet have the crucial prop with him. The workers at Germany’s second-largest steel manufacturer still have to wait for the oversized check with the exact amount of the approved funding. But there is no question that the check will come. After Thyssenkrupp, Salzgitter and Stahl-Holding-Saar, Arcelor Mittal will also receive government support for the switch to climate-friendly steel production. There is talk of around 1.3 billion euros. “Everything has been clarified,” said Habeck in Bremen to cheers from the employees. The notification by the EU Commission is now only a formality.
While Habeck’s political focus in recent years has been on luring foreign chip manufacturers like Intel or battery manufacturers like Northvolt to Germany with the help of subsidies, the focus now is on the question of how the industry in Germany can become climate neutral – and not perish because of this task . The steel industry plays a key role in this: it causes almost 30 percent of CO2-Emissions from industry. The transformation is another challenge in an already difficult situation for the industry. Companies suffer from high energy prices in Germany. Recently, less steel was produced in this country than at any time since the financial crisis of 2009.
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