Cleveland-Cliffs - Smart Energy Decisions

GHG Emissions, Industrial  -  July 16, 2021

Cleveland-Cliffs Targets 25% Emissions Cut by 2030

Cleveland-Cliffs released July 16 its 2020 sustainability report, announcing its commitment to reducing emissions 25% by 2030 from 2017 levels.

The flat-rolled steel producer completed its first natural-gas-based, low-carbon Direct Reduction Plant for the production of hot briquetted iron (HBI). The company has also made an effort to improve the efficiency of its operations through initiatives like capturing gas used in manufacturing to further generate electricity. The Cleveland Works facility plans to install a new steam turbine generator to maximize self-generated electricity. The project could increase Cleveland-Cliffs’ self-generated electricity from 22 MWh to 73 MWh, which would cover approximately 75% of the plant’s electric demand.

Through efficiency projects like this and others, many of the company’s facilities have earned International Organization for Standardization 14001 certification. The company estimates that it spent $34 million on environmental initiatives alone in 2020.

“As we transformed our business in 2020, we developed an integrated, sustainable business model which we believe is the real benchmark in steel production, for the United States and for the rest of the world,” Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “That includes natural gas based Direct Reduction; sinter-free blast furnaces using pre-reduced iron as feedstock, along with customized pellets; and, last but not least, Electric Arc Furnaces free from the vast amounts of dirty pig iron originating from highly polluting countries, so common in other EAF operations in the United States.”

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