Electric-arc steelmaking melts scrap with electricity: direct (Scope 1) emissions drop to ≈0.4 t/t — graphite electrodes, natural-gas burners, lime calcination — and the bigger lever moves to Scope 2: the carbon intensity of the grid that powers the furnace. For the reporting desk that means: which frameworks bite, which KPI to disclose, and which completed measure to show. Here is the steel profile.
| Framework | Applies to steel? |
|---|---|
| EU ETS (if EU site) | Yes — full free-allocation phase-out applies |
| CBAM (if exporting to EU) | Yes |
| SECR (if large UK company) | Yes — energy, Scope 1+2, intensity ratio, efficiency actions |
| ESOS (if large UK undertaking) | Yes — audit by 5 Dec 2027 (Phase 4) + public action plan |
| CSRD / ESRS E1 (if large EU company) | Yes — actions (E1-3), targets (E1-4), energy (E1-5), Scope 1-3 (E1-6) |
| Customer SBTi / CDP requests | Sector-independent — arrives with the RFQ |
The intensity ratio your sector benchmarks against: ≈0.4 t CO2/t steel direct (scrap route; worldsteel). SECR requires an intensity metric of your choice; ESRS E1-5 wants energy per net revenue; CBAM (where in scope) uses exactly t CO2 per tonne of product. Reporting the same physical KPI everywhere keeps the numbers reconcilable — and auditors happy.
~60% of steel CO2 is fuel-side — the share efficiency measures can touch. Heat-loss surveys typically recover 2–5% of fuel use, i.e. 1.2–3.0% of this sector's total CO2, at up to-2-year payback. Worked example at a 500,000 t steel/yr site (≈200,000 t CO2/yr at the benchmark intensity): an insulation programme is worth 2,400–6,000 t CO2e/yr — a complete, verifiable entry for SECR disclosure 4, an ESOS progress update, ESRS E1-3 and the tender CRP, plus €185,760+ off the carbon bill where ETS/CBAM applies.
Generate exact figures for your own kW finding: Carbon Savings Certificate → · sector decarbonization pathway: Steel — EAF (electric arc) →
