Prospects of transition of ferrous metallurgy enterprises of Russia to the use of carbon-free technologies

Abstract

The intention to preserve a comfort habitat for the mankind finds expression in the attempts to decrease the anthropogenic impact on the environment. A concept “carbon footprint” appeared, which reflects input of some kind of activity to the environment pollution. The desire to influence producers’ behavior and make them decrease their carbon footprint under existing conditions results in elaboration new kinds of taxes and duties, stimulating modernization of technological process and decrease of harmful substances emissions. It is expected that in case of the taxes being implemented by big metal products consumers, such as Western Europe, will result in considerable change of the metal products market. An analysis of various ways of metal producers’ adaptation to operation in conditions of the expected changes presented. It was shown that such organization measures as lobbying of interests and artificial differentiation of business on provisionally “clean” and “dirty” will result in a rather restricted result. Thereupon actuality of a radical modernization of production capacities to decarbonize the technologies of steel production grows. Replacement of the carbon by hydrogen for reducing of iron oxides is the most advanced technological solution. At the same time, the hydrogen metallurgy is not yet implemented anywhere on industrial scale, and the hydrogen application in the production cycle results in a lot of questions, having not yet definite answers. A SWOT-analysis presented, demonstrating advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen technology mastering by metals producers.