XCarb® towards carbon neutral steel
XCarb® recycled and renewably produced
Related news
Visit us at Intersolar from 14-16 June in Munich
30 May 2023ArcelorMittal will have a booth at Intersolar, the world's leading exhibition for the solar industry. We will welcome you at booth A6.537 where we will highlight our latest innovations for Magnelis®, the leading coated steel for solar mounting structures.
Event newsFrance’s first ultra-low carbon noise barriers
10 May 2023The posts of the first ultra-low carbon emissions noise barriers in France have been installed on the A10 motorway. Thanks to ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel, the steel posts used to support these noise barriers have the lowest carbon emissions footprint available on the market.
Project newsThe world's first stadium with XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel
4 May 2023Building a football stadium is always special, but the new 15 000-seat SC Cambuur stadium in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands is a first: It is the first stadium in the world to use XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel.
Project news
Visit us at Intersolar from 14-16 June in Munich
ArcelorMittal will have a booth at Intersolar, the world's leading exhibition for the solar industry. We will welcome you at booth A6.537 where we will highlight our latest innovations for Magnelis®, the leading coated steel for solar mounting structures.
Magnelis®, high strength steel, and XCarb® recycled and renewably produced
Magnelis® provides outstanding protection against corrosion for all components of mounting structures and offers up to 30 years of durability in soil based on steel and coating thickness.
For racks and purlins, a lifetime of more than 30 years is achieved in C3 environments with ZM 310. C4 and C5 environments can be addressed with higher coatings. These performances are certified by several independent bodies.
For posts in soil or concrete, Magnelis® heavy coatings are an attractive technical, logistical, and economical solution compared to post galvanising.
Magnelis® is compatible with our S550GD-HyPer® steel grade for structural optimisation and with our low-carbon XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel for carbon footprint reduction. A key product in the energy transition to reduce climate impact, XCarb® recycled and renewably produced Magnelis® leads to a CO2 footprint reduction of approximately 70%.
Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia
Images:
© PVH
© ArcelorMittal
© Intersolar
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France’s first ultra-low carbon noise barriers
The posts of the first ultra-low carbon emissions noise barriers in France have been installed on the A10 motorway. Thanks to ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel, the steel posts used to support these noise barriers have the lowest carbon emissions footprint available on the market.
Fulfilling strict low carbon emissions requirements
GTA Group ordered steel posts from ArcelorMittal to fulfil VINCI Autoroutes’ strict low carbon emissions requirements. The posts were manufactured in ArcelorMittal’s Steligence® Fabrication Centre in Differdange with ArcelorMittal’s unique XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel. ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel has a very low carbon footprint as it is made from 100% recycled scrap in an electric arc furnace using 100% renewable electricity from solar and wind sources. The low global warming potential of XCarb® recycled and renewably produced is externally certified by an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and at the French level by an FDES.
From the search for materials and partners to the design and implementation of this project, GTA Group coordinated this ultra-low carbon noise barrier - a world first.
“At GTA,” says Julien Feller, CEO GTA Group, “we are continuously looking for the latest decarbonised technical innovations. For this project requiring CO2 emissions to be as low as possible, we contacted ArcelorMittal’s Steligence® Fabrication Centre. We have been partnering with them on many projects for years already, and we knew they would support us once more. As soon as we presented XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel, we knew we had found the best solution to satisfy the requirements of our customer!”
Not only was the XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel the best solution in terms of environmental impact, but it was also an obvious decision to make in terms of transport: the producer’s fabrication centre is only 35 kms from GTA’s main site in Luxembourg.
Decarbonisation: a multi-material approach
The barriers were installed to protect residents from the noise pollution generated by the traffic on the A10 motorway between Tours and Poitiers. A 700-metre-long motorway section is now insulated with 173 four-metre-long, three-metre-high panels. This project has been designed to use the widest possible range of decarbonisation solutions. The structural side of the barriers has been designed with a very low carbon cement, while the acoustic side uses a very efficient wood concrete which keeps the sound wave inside.
The posts between the barriers are made of XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel and were protected in one of GTA Group's workshops with a water-based paint free of volatile organic compounds (supplied by Hempel). The low carbon emissions steel for this project was complemented by Hoffman’s decarbonised cement solution proposed by Capremib.
As part of their ambitious 2030 environmental plan, VINCI Autoroutes is increasingly committed to decarbonising its motorways, and the A10 project is only one of many.
About GTA Group
GTA Group is a group of companies providing services and products for tunnels, motorways, construction, and engineering structures. They specialise in passive protection against fires with industrial coatings, and offer efficient, optimised, and economical technical solutions for many areas related to air, water, and noise. From its headquarters in Luxembourg, GTA Group is located in the heart of Europe with subsidiaries in France, Luxembourg, and Belgium.
In 2021, the group was selected to design, supply, and install 2 kms of noise barriers as part of the work to widen the A10 motorway between Eigne and Sorigny to 2x3 lanes.
About COFIROUTE
COFIROUTE has a strong ambition towards decarbonisation and thus commissioned GTA Group to optimise, from a CO2 emissions point of view, the various components of an anti-noise wall - i.e. concrete (walls and acoustics), steel (posts), coating (anti-corrosion), and logistics.
Today, thanks to its ultra-low carbon ambition, the ultra-low carbon noise barriers from COFIROUTE are a world first.
Project details
- Project owner: COFIROUTE
- Project manager: INGEROP
- Contractor: Bouygues TP Régions France
Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia
Images:
ArcelorMittal Europe
Video:
VINCI Autoroutes
Related link(s)
The world's first stadium with XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel
Building a football stadium is always special, but the new 15 000-seat SC Cambuur stadium in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands is a first: It is the first stadium in the world to use XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel.
A sustainable alternative
"We want to take responsibility in terms of sustainability,” says Michel Kolk, sales director of Voortman Steel Construction. “For example, we are in the process of mapping our whole CO2 footprint. In this context, thanks to our cooperation with ArcelorMittal Staalhandel (ArcelorMittal Distribution Solutions Benelux), we can now offer our clients a sustainable alternative to the usual steel beams. The fact that XCarb® recycled and renewably produced sections are being used for the first time in a prestigious project like the Cambuur stadium gives it an extra dimension in terms of sustainability and provides a great reference! We hope that many more projects with XCarb® will follow so that together with our partners we can contribute to a cleaner construction chain.”
Voortman Steel Construction and Van Wijnen: a joint design process
Voortman Steel Construction was commissioned by Van Wijnen to supply and assemble over 1746 tonnes of steel for the stadium, including the 30-metre-long roof trusses, the floor beams, and the four lighting columns.
Voortman Steel Construction designs, manufactures, and delivers high quality projects in steel from engineering to assembly.
Van Wijnen is a Dutch construction group active in project development, housing construction, renovation and transformation, area development, and property management.
CO2 savings
As a result of the talks between ArcelorMittal’s Steligence® team and Van Wijnen and the discussions between ArcelorMittal Staalhandel and their customer Voortman, the selection of XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel quickly became an obvious choice. In fact, 80% of all the sections that will be assembled in the stadium are in ArcelorMittal's sustainable steel using 100% renewable electricity and 100% scrap. Compared to the use of typical steel, the choice of XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel represents a saving of over 285 tonnes of CO2-eq. This is roughly equal to the emissions of over 160 diesel cars driving 10 000 kilometres on an annual basis.
A story that will repeat itself in the future
Voortman and ArcelorMittal Staalhandel have been playing on the same team for years. However, this new stadium is changing the game by putting the XCarb® recycled and renewably produced offer on the field as a key player. And that is what makes the difference in winning the sustainability match!
Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia
Images:
ArcelorMittal
Related link(s)
XCarb® towards carbon neutral steel
XCarb® is the new brand name for ArcelorMittal’s ongoing global programme of steelmaking innovation targeted at carbon-neutral steel by 2050. XCarb® brings together all of ArcelorMittal’s reduced, low, and zero-carbon products and steelmaking activities, as well as wider initiatives and green innovation projects, into a single effort focussed on achieving demonstrable progress towards carbon neutral steel.
ArcelorMittal believes that steel has a critical role to play in helping society decarbonise and will very much be a solution to the problem.
That is why, as the world’s leading steel company, ArcelorMittal has a significant responsibility to innovate, implement, and navigate a successful pathway towards a cleaner steelmaking industry. The journey towards becoming carbon neutral by 2050, having aligned with the Paris climate goals and the European Green Deal by committing to reduce European CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050, is well underway.
We will continue to drive innovation to meet our decarbonisation goals and are committed to leading the industry transition towards carbon neutral steel. We have the scale, resources, technology prowess and ambition required make a significant impact.
XCarb® branded initiatives
Alongside the new XCarb® brand, ArcelorMittal has launched three XCarb® initiatives: XCarb® recycled and renewably produced for products made via the Electric Arc Furnace route using scrap, XCarb® green steel certificates, and XCarb® innovation fund.
XCarb® recycled and renewably produced
XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel is made from recycled steel using 100% renewable electricity in an Electric Arc Furnace and is offered for long products, but is also being extended step by step to flat products.
By using a very high content of scrap steel plus renewable energy, XCarb® recycled and renewably produced products have an extremely low CO2 footprint that can be as low as approximately 300kg of CO2 per tonne of finished steel when the metallics are 100% scrap.
The electricity used in the steelmaking process is independently verified, with a ‘Guarantee of Origin’ given that it is from renewable sources.
XCarb® green steel certificate
ArcelorMittal’s industry-first green steel certificates allow customers to report an equivalent reduction in their Scope 3 emissions, in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. XCarb® green steel certificates are specifically designed for ArcelorMittal’s flat steel products made from iron ore in a blast furnace.
ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products’ initiatives to reduce carbon emissions from the blast furnaces include flagship Smart Carbon projects, such as Torero and Carbalyst®, and capturing hydrogen-rich waste gases from the steelmaking process and injecting them into the blast furnaces to reduce coal use.
The significant CO2 savings achieved this way can be added up and passed on to customers in the form of a certificate, verified by the independent auditor DNV GL.
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XCarb® innovation fund
Through its XCarb® innovation fund, ArcelorMittal is investing in companies developing breakthrough technologies that will accelerate the steel industry’s transition to carbon neutral steelmaking.
Technological breakthroughs are imperative in society's decarbonisation journey. It is critically important that we continue to innovate, and the XCarb® innovation fund is an attempt to accelerate this process by supporting the best and brightest ideas.