How do we make steel if we don't burn coal?

Virtually all of the coal mined in BC* is metallurgical coal, used in the production of steel. It isn't simply burned to produce heat and electricity; instead metallurgical coal, converted to coke, is a fundamental component of the process of making new steel from iron ore. Nonetheless, when coal is used in making steel it still produces the same heat trapping emissions, which is why it needs to stay in the ground.

Some people ask us How can you call for an end to the export of metallurgical coal, when we need that coal to make steel to build things like wind turbines and solar hot water racks so we can stop burning fossil fuels?

It's a good question, and we would welcome a full and frank, society-wide discussion about the need to put our economy on a war-time footing in order to urgently transition off of all fossil fuels, before it's too late.

We have some ideas (the "5 R's" -- see below) but first, imagine if our government came out with an announcement like this:

"We will grudgingly allow the mining and export of coal, but only under the condition that the steel produced is reserved for the production of alternative energy equipment, buses, rail cars and other machines essential for cutting emissions and avoiding a climate catastrophe."

"Furthermore, we are working closely with steel producers to develop ways to reduce emissions from steel production, and to find ways to produce steel that don't require coal, in preparation for the coming end of coal production and export."

Wow. You would hear us all cheering quite loudly.

In fact, neither our government nor the big coal companies care what the steel is used for. They are happy to let the current system rumble along because they make money, in the form of profits or royalties, regardless of what gets produced.

It's up to people who care about the future more than money to throw a wrench into the works, bring the system to a halt, and start the conversation about how to rebuild it so that it works for everyone.

So what do we do about steel?  We've come up with a few ideas below to at least get the conversation started, which we have humbly titled our 5 point plan for getting coal out of steel. Your comments are welcomed.

1. Recycle every last scrap of steel

First the good news: recycling existing steel doesn't require coal -- old steel can be melted down in electric furnaces. Now some not so good news: recycled steel can't be used for all purposes, and (in North America at least) steel recycling rates are already fairly high. They're not at 100% though, so how about a WWII drive to collect every last scrap?

2. Reduce consumption of products containing steel

The market decides what the steel is used for, and while a big chunk of it goes to feed the rapidly growing economies of China and India, a fair bit of it is used to produce stuff for the west that we don't really need, or that only makes our situation worse. Think stainless steel refrigerators and stoves, bigger and bigger cars, structural steel for bridges to ever expanding low density suburbs...

Pretty much all of us could consume less than we do now. Please add "Is that made of steel?" to the list of questions you ask before you buy something. Encourage others to do the same. Reuse and repair steel items rather than buying new ones. Demand mandatory recycling programs of government. Boycott stores that sell useless consumer junk made of steel.

3. Ration supplies of steel made with coal, and restrict its use to the transition away from fossil fuels

OK, maybe central planning in Moscow didn't get everything right, (and we're not doubting your voluntary commitment to doing the right thing), but if we just leave decisions about steel use to the markets, eventually we're going to find ourselves in a situation where we simply must stop burning coal to avoid runaway climate change, but we don't have the wind turbines and solar panels and busses and electric trains we need to we need to provide clean energy and transportation. Not good.

Let's make sure it doesn't happen, by re-allocating steel supplies to those essentials needed to get us past of our fossil fuel dependency.  As a society, we've rationed supplies before to deal with urgent crises -- think WWII -- and we can do it again.  In fact, we have to.

4. Research ways to capture heat trapping pollution from the steel making process, Research ways to make steel without coal, and Research alternative low emission materials that can be used to replace steel

There are some interesting research ideas out there, but practical applications in many cases are 10, 15 or 20 years away, so we shouldn't expect any silver bullets to save us from ourselves.  Nonetheless, there is an important role for government to play in guiding and encouraging fundamental research.

5. Raise the cost of metallurgical coal

If you raise the price of a key steel input (metallurigical coal) several interesting things happen all at once. First, as price goes up, demand for steel goes down. That means non-essential uses are deferred or abandoned. Second, there is a greater incentive to find alternatives to that input to the steel making process. Third, there is an incentive to find replacements for steel itself.

Metallurgical coal prices could be raised at the point of combustion through carbon taxes, or, if other countries don't want to cooperate, through excise taxes on our metallurgical coal exports.  We've spoken with several economists, and they say that BC's share of the world metallurgical coal market is sufficiently large that if we introduced an excise tax it would have influence on prices world wide.

In short, we wouldn't be simply "shooting ourselves in the foot" as some would argue, we'd be showing leadership in helping to spur innovation and research into ways to get the world off of coal. Also, since government would be collecting the tax revenue, we could use that money to help fund the transition off of fossil fuels.

So: effective immediately, we need to start practicing the 5 R's:

reducing consumption * recycling all steel * rationing new steel * researching alternatives * raising prices

 

*[Thermal coal (burned to make power) from a variety of sources is also shipped through BC and exported, along with BC's metallurgical coal, out of our three coal ports. Both kinds of coal need to stay in the ground.]