Brazil: Increasing use of charcoal from planted forests reduces environmental impact of steel production. July 25th, 2013. A year after the enactment of the Brazilian Charcoal Sustainability Protocol, the steel industry has developed several activities in order to fulfill that commitment and collaborate in the construction of an environmentally sustainable country.
Brazil has favorable conditions for the production of biomass, due to its generous forests and climatic and ecological conditions that allow the rapid growth of vegetation. This made of Brazil an undisputed leader in the production of steel by using charcoal as a reducing agent of iron ore.
Currently, almost 10% of Brazilian steel is obtained from the charcoal integrated value-chain. This implies important environmental advantages, such as the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions during the industrial process.
One of the most important commitments established in the Protocol for the steel industry is to ensure that, by 2016, 100% of the charcoal demand will be satisfied by planted woods. Between 2011 and 2012, steel industry owned woods -as a source for charcoal- increased their share from 80% to 86%. The integrated steel companies that manufacture charcoal own 507.000 hectares of plantations.
Also, they promote the development of plantations owned by third parties. The government of Brazil also plays a fundamental role. The country should adequate its important independent pig iron production industry to the new sustainability standards. To achieve this, the National Executive Power and the public financial agents should facilitate funding lines, in view of the social and environmental benefits to be gained from adapting these companies to the new requirements.
On the other hand, the government should consider the creation of policies that give an alternative livelihood to thousands of micro semi-informal charcoal producers that do not operate within the legal norms.
About Alacero
Alacero –Latin American Steel Association- is the organization that brings together the Steel Value Chain of Latin America to promote the values of regional integration, technological innovation, corporate responsibility and social and environmental sustainability. Founded in 1959, Alacero is formed by 51 companies of 25 countries, whose production –of about 70 million annual tons- represents 95% of the steel manufactured in Latin America. Alacero is a Special Consulting Organization to the United Nations and is recognized as International Non-Government Organization by the Republic of Chile, host country of Alacero´s headquarters.