Canadian steelmakers embrace ‘green steel’ as carbon taxes set to rise
The steel industry is at a crossroads, with government policies like carbon pricing designed to combat climate change hitting manufacturers’ bottom lines and international pledges likely to seek further concessions from companies that burn fossil fuels.
And the chief executive of Algoma Steel is hoping the company’s costly investment to make “green steel” will help to insulate it from the kinds of sector-wide downturns that previously threw it into bankruptcies.
“I would never say never, but we are certainly doing everything in our power to certainly minimize, if not eliminate that risk,” says chief executive Michael McQuade, who has plans to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by about 70 per cent..