Climate

Give Steel aims to reduce the CO₂ footprint of steel structures by two thirds

We need to find massive CO₂ optimisations in raw materials, energy and transport

Give Steel A/S has just committed to the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi)*, which is a global initiative for companies that want to reduce their CO₂ emissions in line with the Paris Agreement**. This initiative was launched to limit global warming to 1.5 °C by 2030 and aims to achieve CO₂ neutrality (by comparison with pre-industrial levels) by 2050 at the latest.

Give Steel’s commitment to this initiative means that we have now embarked upon a process whereby our company has to develop a concrete climate target in relation to the Paris Agreement within the next 24 months. This target will then be submitted to SBTi for official validation.

“Our commitment to Science-Based Target is the foundation for a serious climate strategy that is both ambitious and realistic”, says Give Steel’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Anette Maria Christensen. 

She explains:

“We expect to be able to set ourselves the ambition of achieving 37% low carbon steel in 2030. This estimate is based on the increasing interest in steel with low CO₂ values, which we are already experiencing from major developers. We expect this trend to increase as fossil-free steel comes on the market and the EU’s taxonomy begins to take effect. There are also CO₂ gains to be had from the use of green energy.”

Give Steel’s CO₂ reductions will mainly come from the following three areas: raw materials, energy and transport; and raw materials occupy a particularly important role in this context. Give Steel is already seeing increased demand from major developers to increase the percentage of scrap in construction steel and for sourcing from steelworks with the lowest CO₂ figures. Steelworks will also increase their supply of low carbon steel over time.

Reducing CO₂ footprint by two thirds

Give Steel is currently working on a low carbon project that aims to achieve CO₂ figures as low as roughly 333 kg CO₂ per ton of raw material. This is approximately just a third of the CO₂ footprint of the raw material that is the current basis for Give Steel’s EPD of 1050 kg CO₂ per ton. The future’s biggest CO₂ savings will, however, come from fossil-free steel, which we do not expect to be able to source until 2030. But as steelworks increase their focus on low carbon steel, possibilities will continue to appear which will further reduce the CO₂ footprint of steel. Give Steel therefore aims to work towards a scenario whereby we want more than a third of steel to be low carbon by 2030.

Green energy and our own wind turbines

Give Steel will also be able to achieve significant CO₂ savings from green energy in a new combination of energy sourced from wind turbines and solar cells. Give Steel has applied for planning permission to put up two wind turbines on our land in Brande to supplement the green energy that we buy in from external suppliers. Give Steel has been working for a long time to develop an optimal energy solution; one which is not just a matter of buying the right certificates, but is actually adapted to the factory’s electricity consumption throughout the day and which will give us almost complete coverage of our energy requirements.
By using green energy, Give Steel expects to be able to achieve a 90% CO₂ reduction compared to our current electricity consumption, based on the same turnover.

Green transport
Give Steel’s sustainability department considers green transport to be the biggest challenge of all. Green transport is currently twice as expensive as conventional transport using fossil fuels, which means that neither contractors nor developers are particularly interested in it. Despite these challenges, Give Steel nevertheless sees opportunities for CO₂ optimisation as biofuels and the electrification of heavy transport improve over time.

Science-Based Target has already approved Give Steel’s application, so you can already find us on the Science-Based Target website https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action#dashboard.

*The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) defines and promotes best practice based on a research-based objective and independently assesses the companies’ targets.
Source: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action

**The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, just one year after its conclusion at the 21st UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in December 2015. The Paris Agreement obligates member states to keep the global temperature increase well below 2 degrees and to work towards limiting it to 1.5 degrees. The EU undertakes to reduce emissions by at least 40% in 2030 compared to 1990. The Paris Agreement also establishes a new market mechanism whereby a country will be able to buy emission reductions by financing climate projects in other countries. Source: The Danish Parliament, EU Information (20/03/2023)

 Source: https://www.eu.dk/da/leksikon/Parisaftalen

Give Steel focuses on CO₂ optimisation from Cradle to Site i.e. from extraction of raw materials to final installation at the construction site