Klimaschutzverträge für den schnellen Einstieg in die Transformation der Grundstoffindustrie

Für die Transformation der Stahlindustrie bedarf es eines politischen Gesamtkonzeptes, das schnell die nötigen Rahmenbedingungen herstellt, damit die nächste Investitionsentscheidung auf die klimaneutrale Technologie fällt. Dazu gehören Klimaschutzverträge auf der Angebotsseite und grüne Leitmärkte auf der Nachfrageseite

Evaluation of Environmental Life Cycle Approaches for Policy and Decision Making Support in Micro and Macro Level Applications

The European Commission (EC) has strengthened environmental and sustainability oriented policies and strategies by introducing Life Cycle Thinking. Amongst others, this is a key consideration in the Integrated Product Policy Communication, the two Thematic Strategies on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste, as well as in the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)/Sustainable Industry Policy (SIP) Action Plan. Reliable and scientifically robust life cycle methods are required to support the implementation, monitoring and assessment needs of these strategies and associated policies. This project analyses different life-cycle methods and provides an evaluation of their current suitability for assessing environmental impacts in micro level and macro level situations.JRC.DDG.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

15 insights on the global steel transformation

15 INSIGHTS ON THE GLOBAL STEEL TRANSFORMATION 15 insights on the global steel transformation / Witecka, Wido K. (Rights reserved) ( -

Evaluierung ökologischer Lebenszyklusansätze

Umweltorientierte Strategien, die einen Lebenszyklusansatz von Produkten verfolgen, werden auf politischer Ebene integriert und von gesellschaftlichen Gruppen angewandt. Solche Strategien zielen auf die Förderung des Lebenszyklusgedankens ab, d.h. sie betrachten die Umweltleistung von Produkten über den gesamten Lebensweg. Um diese Strategien praktisch umzusetzen bedarf es zuverlässiger Methoden, die fundierte Informationen über die Lebenszyklusleistung von Systemen liefern können. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, verschiedene Lebenszyklusmethoden hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung für die Bereitstellung einer gesicherten Grundlage bezüglich des Lebenszyklusprinzips für die Anwendung in Entscheidungsprozessen auf Mikro- und Makroebene zu bewerten. Die ausgewählten Methoden sind repräsentativ für die Anwendung auf den betrachteten Entscheidungsebenen und werden in Bezug auf allgemein, methodisch und technisch bedeutende Fragen ihrer Anwendung bewertet. Zu diesem Zweck wird ein umfangreiches Bewertungsschema, bestehend aus zehn Kriterien und diese beschreibenden Unterkriterien sowie Aspekten, entwickelt. Die durchgeführten Fallstudien dienen der Überprüfung der theoretischen Erkenntnisse und stellen weitergehende Informationen zu praktischen Belangen bereit. Für die Anwendung der Methoden auf der Mikroebene liefert die Bewertung ein eindeutiges Ergebnis, da die prozessbasierte Ökobilanz hier generell besser abschneidet als die anderen betrachteten Methoden. Auf der Makroebene ergibt sich ein breiter gefächertes Ergebnis, da keine der Methoden generell Vorteile in allen untersuchten Bereichen gegenüber den anderen Methoden aufweist. Die Methoden haben vielmehr unterschiedliche Stärken und Schwerpunkte. Die Fallstudien bestätigen diese Ergebnisse größtenteils und zeigen auf, welche der Kriterien besonders fall- und praxisabhängig sind. Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, die spezifische Situation einer möglichen Anwendung in Betracht zu ziehen, bevor eine Entscheidung für eine der Methoden getroffen wird. Dies gilt insbesondere bei Anwendungen auf der Makroebene. Die Erkenntnisse aus dieser Arbeit können eine nützliche Entscheidungshilfe bei der Auswahl von Lebenszyklusmethoden sein, sowohl in Bezug auf die hier untersuchten Methoden als auch als Basis für die Bewertung weiterer Methoden.Environmental policies focussing on a life cycle approach of products are integrated on a political level and adopted by societal stakeholders. These policies aim to promote the idea of Life Cycle Thinking – taking into account the environmental performance of systems throughout their life cycle. In order to provide sound information on the life cycle performance of a system, reliable methods need to be applied if the strategies are meant to be realised practically. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the suitability of different life cycle methods for applications of micro and macro level decision making in order to provide a sound basis for the principle of life cycle thinking. The methods are selected as being representative and widely used for both decision-making levels taken into account and are assessed with regard to general, methodological and technical issues of importance in their application. For this purpose a comprehensive evaluation scheme is developed consisting of ten criteria and descriptive sub-criteria and aspects. Compliance of the methods for each sub-criterion is evaluated by assessing their fulfilment with these aspects. Case studies are conducted in order to check the theoretical evaluation and provide additional insight into practical considerations. An unambiguous result can be shown for micro level applications as process-based LCA shows a generally higher compliance with the considered criteria than any other method. On the macro level the result is revealed to be more diverse, none of the methods shows clear advantages in an overall evaluation but rather different strength and foci. The case studies confirm the evaluation on both levels for the most part, adding insight on which criteria might be most case specific and how they might be affected by practical conditions. This leads to the conclusion that specific conditions of an application need to be taken into account before deciding for one of the methods; especially for macro level applications. The information given by this evaluation can provide valuable decision support for the method selection, either with regard to the methods evaluated in this thesis or as the basis for further method evaluations

Low-carbon technologies for the global steel transformation : a guide to the most effective ways to cut emissions in steelmaking

The steel industry is responsible for eight per cent of global CO2 emissions. As more than seven out of ten of today's coal-fired blast furnaces are due to be refurbished or replaced in the 2020s, there is a key window of opportunity to shift to low-emission production methods before the end of this decade. The analysis by Agora Industry, Wuppertal Institute and Lund University assesses eight potential breakthrough technologies in terms of their market readiness, cost and impact on emissions. The methods analysed include the use of hydrogen to produce direct reduced iron, scrap-based electric arc furnaces, electrolysis and the implementation of carbon capture in existing coal-fired facilities. While some of these technologies can already be deployed today to kick-start the market for green steel, others will take more time to reach technological maturity, but show promise in the long-term. A third group may never turn into adequate solutions for decarbonising the steel sector. In their analysis, the scientists conclude that scrap and hydrogen-based methods hold the biggest promise for companies aiming to make the switch this decade. By contrast, retrofitting existing coal-based facilities with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology entails the biggest economic and environmental risk, the authors find. Regardless of the technologies chosen, appropriate regulatory frameworks, international cooperation, and targeted incentives are necessary to boost demand for green steel and promote its production. At the same time, such measures can help steer manufacturers away from costly technological dependencies

Evaluation of Life Cycle Approaches for the Development of Environmental Indicators in Policy and Decision Making Support

The integration of life cycle thinking into policy and decision making processes requires the development of credible and scientifically robust environmental indicators, capable to define targets and monitor results. The potential range of such indicators is very broad, depending on the level of policy/decision-making and the type of information needed. Indicators may apply from micro level situations (a single product/process/technology/site) to macro scale policy areas (e.g., EU thematic strategies). A further differentiation can be made for each level, depending on the life-cycle phase under consideration: resources, products, or waste. The present study compares process-based life-cycle assessment (LCA), economic input-output analysis-based LCA (EIO-LCA), materials flow analysis and some relevant hybrid methods in order to assess their suitability for building up environmental indicators in different policy and decision-making contexts. The evaluation has been carried out along a comprehensive set of criteria, covering methodological, technical and data availability issues. The outcomes of the study will contribute to the definition of a sound approach towards the development of the three sets of decoupling indicators, as announced in the EU Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource