Stainless Steel: Powering a Sustainable Future
Stainless steel can be recycled pretty much infinitely without losing any of its properties in the recycling process. In addition, its exceptional strength and durability allow it to continue performing optimally for many years, reducing the need for replacement. Together, these two properties give stainless steel a level of sustainability that most other materials cannot match.
That said, steel manufacturing as a whole is the biggest producer of CO₂ emissions among all of the heavy industries, accounting for around one-tenth of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions. It is, however, worth noting that both CO₂ emissions and energy usage in the production of European steel have more than halved since 1960. The global steel industry continues to work to lower emissions, committing to reduce them by 90% as compared to the emission levels of 2020.
In this edition of the BS Stainless blog, we look at an ongoing project in which steel and stainless steel are being used to help solve the world's energy crisis.
Powerlink, Australia/Singapore
Southeast Asia is set to experience extreme increases in the demand for energy, with some experts predicting that demand will have grown by 60% at the end of the next decade. There will be a corresponding demand for the use of renewable energy sources, especially in ultra-industrialised economies such as Singapore. The country is almost entirely reliant on gas, with an overwhelming 95% of its electricity generated using this resource.
In contrast to Singapore's tropical rainforest climate, Australia has one of the world's highest resources of raw solar power. At Powell Creek in the Northern Territory, work has begun building the largest solar farm in the world. This is set to be connected to Singapore using a steel-armour plated cable which, measuring over 2,600 miles, will be the world's longest.
Once connected in 2027, the solar farm in Australia will provide as much as 15% of Singapore's total energy requirements, offsetting an estimated 8.6m tonnes of CO₂ annually. Stainless steel banding and wire will be extensively used at the solar plant, particularly in its tanks, pumps and heat exchangers.
In an upcoming edition of our blog, we'll be looking at another sustainable energy project making extensive use of stainless steel. Make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter so you don't miss out!
In the meantime, take a look at the BS Stainless website to discover how we are contributing to global stainless steel sustainability with our groundbreaking ECOTEGRITY project.