Yeah, but from the two billion tonnes a year of steel that’s produced, about five percent is carbon added to iron, and about half of that remains in the final product, so that’s about fifty million tonnes released to atmosphere. Whereas about three and a half billion tonnes of coal was burned for power, and that all ends up in the air. A seventy-fold reduction is quite significant; means we can selectively close the higher-sulfur-content mines for an even better improvement in air quality.
Coal is used in steel and plastics. It’s not going anywhere
Yeah, but from the two billion tonnes a year of steel that’s produced, about five percent is carbon added to iron, and about half of that remains in the final product, so that’s about fifty million tonnes released to atmosphere. Whereas about three and a half billion tonnes of coal was burned for power, and that all ends up in the air. A seventy-fold reduction is quite significant; means we can selectively close the higher-sulfur-content mines for an even better improvement in air quality.