Steelmaking in Britain has to get greener. But who’ll pay?
Producers want subsidies and cheaper power
DATES ASSIGNED to environmental targets often seem reassuringly—or complacently—distant. By 2050, the British government has promised, the country’s net emissions of greenhouse gases will be zero. Its advisers on the Climate Change Committee have recommended that steelmaking, which belches about one-tenth of Britain’s industrial emissions, should be “near-zero” by 2035. If that sounds leisurely, it is anything but. Both steelmakers and ministers must make uncomfortable decisions, involving billions of pounds and thousands of jobs, uncomfortably soon.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Test of metal”
Britain February 11th 2023
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