Daimler AG wants to further reduce its carbon footprint.
The car manufacturer from Baden-Württemberg is now entering into an important deal with a Swedish company.
Stuttgart / Lulea - Daimler AG's vision for the future is clear: the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer plans to stop producing combustion engines by 2020 (*
BW24
reported).
Daimler is now going one step further in its plan and pursuing its ambitious plan.
In order to also become more climate-friendly in production, the company intends to purchase steel from a CO2-free production facility in Sweden in the future.
This should be the case as early as 2026.
For decades, steel production has been one of the biggest climate offenders.
The pressure on the production companies is growing.
Car manufacturers in particular are demanding CO2-free production.
Because they too are under pressure to reduce their emissions.
Daimler was already in dire straits: a study unmasked a lack of progress in the CO2 balance *.
"We want to decarbonise our entire supply chain by 2039," said Markus Schäfer, Daimler board member in the purchasing and development department, to the
Handelsblatt
.
"For this it is necessary that we work closely with our suppliers and get involved in joint development at an early stage."
Daimler AG: Emissions in the steel industry should go to zero
But this process is not that simple.
The steel manufacturers' plant parks have to be converted and prepared for the use of hydrogen, reports the
Handelsblatt
.
In this way, emissions in the steel industry are to be reduced to zero by 2050 at the latest.
It is more important to Daimler boss Ola Källenius to meet the CO2 targets than to save jobs *.
In order to drive the process forward, Daimler recently participated in the founding of the company "H2 Green Steel", which wants to build a climate-neutral steelworks in northern Sweden.
A few weeks ago, Daimler AG also placed an order with the Lower Saxony steel manufacturer Salzgitter, which will in future supply its subsidiary Mercedes-Benz * with a two-thirds lower carbon footprint.
With the cooperation with the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB, Daimler is taking another important step in terms of CO2 reduction.
The company, based in Lulea, Sweden, plans to supply the market with green steel over the next five years.
SSAB has been operating a pilot plant since the beginning of this year.
In Lulea, the first prototype parts for bodyshell scopes are to be manufactured for Daimler as early as 2022.
Daimler AG: Car manufacturer from Stuttgart wants to purchase completely “green” steel in the future
But why does Daimler AG fall back on Swedish companies of all places? Swedish steel producers are a long step ahead of their Central European competitors. One reason for this is the energy production in the country. Sweden has large amounts of climate-neutral energy. The “green electricity” has a positive effect on reducing emissions. After all, it is needed to be able to produce green hydrogen. In the long term, green hydrogen should replace coal, which is harmful to the climate and the environment.
The company SSAB has also entered into a cooperation with the Swedish state mining group LKAB in order to obtain carbon-neutral iron ore. SSAB also uses the energy supplier Vattenfall, which supplies green electricity for production. “Such cross-sector projects will become more and more important in the future,” says Daimler Board Member * Markus Schäfer. The climate targets could only be achieved if we eliminated CO2 emissions along the entire process chain. "From conveying the raw materials to recycling the end product."
The production companies in Germany are still a long way from this. The German steel industry alone would need around 12,000 new wind turbines to convert to hydrogen production. In addition, there are the necessary investments in the production facilities, which run into the billions. * BW24
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