Improve Steel Production involves replacing the use of fossil fuels in making steel from iron ore with electrolytic hydrogen and clean electricity. Doing so could reduce emissions from steel production by more than 90%. Although the necessary technologies exist, adoption has been very limited, with the major barriers being the cost of clean electricity and the availability of suitable iron ore. Other strategies for reducing the emissions from steel production typically rely on bioenergy sources or carbon capture and storage (CCS), which have limited potential to reduce emissions. As demand for steel grows globally, new policies are needed to increase market demand for low-emissions steel. Given the lack of improved steel facilities and supportive policies today, we will “Keep Watching” this solution.
Based on our analysis, Improve Steel Production using H2-DRI-EAF powered by clean electricity has the potential to significantly reduce emissions. However, while the individual technologies for H2-DRI-EAF are mature and their combined use has been piloted, the process has not yet been adopted in a meaningful way. We will “Keep Watching” this solution, but it is not ready for widespread adoption.
| Plausible | Could it work? | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | Is it ready? | No |
| Evidence | Are there data to evaluate it? | Yes |
| Effective | Does it consistently work? | Yes |
| Impact | Is it big enough to matter? | Yes |
| Risk | Is it risky or harmful? | No |
| Cost | Is it cheap? | No |
Currently, making steel from iron ore relies heavily on coal and other fossil fuels to provide heat and reducing agents (chemicals that remove oxygen from iron ore). Improve Steel Production refers to using electric heat and hydrogen produced by electrolysis to reduce the iron ore (H2-DRI) and electric arc furnaces (EAF) to melt the resulting iron and alloy it with carbon to make steel. The solution also requires the electricity used in these processes to include significant renewable energy or other low-carbon generation. The output is varying grades of steel with different degrees of hardness and brittleness determined by slight variations in carbon content. This solution does not include processes that rely on bioenergy or CCS, since the emissions from burning bioenergy contribute to climate change and CCS is not an effective climate solution.
Replacing fossil fuels in steelmaking with H2-DRI-EAF that uses electrolytic hydrogen and where all electricity comes from relatively clean sources results in significantly reduced emissions. Steel made today using fossil fuels for heat and as a reducing agent results in an estimated 1.8 t CO₂‑eq /t of steel. By contrast, steel made using H2-DRI-EAF and low-carbon electricity would generate an estimated 0.12 t CO₂‑eq /t of steel and is a more energy-efficient process. EAF furnaces are already very common in steelmaking and for recycling existing steel, but are rarely combined with H2-DRI. Although H2-DRI was first used on an industrial scale in 2001, that plant was shut down for economic and political reasons, and economics remain a barrier. Finally, technologies to make industrial hydrogen from electricity are mature, but most hydrogen produced today is made from fossil fuels and is carbon-intensive. Active research is exploring other technologies that could become important for improving steel production in the future, most notably aqueous or molten oxide electrolysis, both of which use electricity to directly remove oxygen from iron ore, and can be combined with EAF to make steel.
Steelmaking is classified as a hard-to-abate industry, and H2-DRI-EAF powered by clean electricity is considered one of the best strategies for cutting emissions in this sector. The Net Zero Industry project forecasts that under an emissions-neutral steel scenario by 2050, roughly 40% of global steel production could depend on H2-DRI-EAF, with the remainder consisting of recycled steel (47%), steelmaking with CCS (11%), or technologies not yet defined (2%). The impact is potentially significant, given that steelmaking accounted for an estimated 3.7 Gt of CO₂‑eq in 2019. Improved steelmaking has the additional benefit of reducing air and land pollution, as burning coal releases fine particulate matter, heavy metals, and other pollutants. In China, steel production is the largest industrial source of air pollution. As demand for steel is expected to increase up to 30% by 2050 due to demand from India and other low- and middle-income countries, it is critical that new and existing production shift to cleaner, lower-emission technologies, and that policies supporting this shift be implemented.
While proposed low-emission steel projects have attracted significant attention from the press, many have since been canceled or put on hold. As of 2025, we could find references to only a few pilot facilities producing improved steel as we have defined it here. The entire H2-DRI-EAF process is considered to be at the large-scale prototype demonstration stage. However, contributing technologies such as electrolytic hydrogen production and EAF are more mature, and H2-DRI was first used on an industrial scale in 2001. The higher cost of making low-emission steel is a significant barrier to industrial adoption and consumer demand. Electricity accounts for nearly half the cost of producing low-emission steel from iron ore. To increase adoption, improved steel facilities need to be located in areas that can readily supply both iron ore and abundant low-carbon, low-cost electricity. In areas such as China, where the electricity grid still relies heavily on fossil fuels, transitioning to H2-DRI-EAF risks increasing emissions unless dedicated renewables are integrated into the project. To move this solution forward, new policies are needed to create an international market for low-emission steel. Meanwhile, existing steelmaking facilities typically have lifetimes of 25–40 years, which increases the likelihood of stranded assets or continued reliance on fossil fuels by 2050. Under its Sustainable Development Scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that, by 2050, only 12% of cumulative direct emissions reductions in steelmaking will be due to electrification and the use of hydrogen (the IEA considered emissions from electricity to be indirect). Reducing demand for steel, incremental efficiency gains, and CCS are expected to make up the bulk of cumulative direct emissions reductions, according to the IEA projections.
Bataille, C., Stiebert, S., Li, F. (2021). Global facility level net-zero steel pathways. Net Zero Steel. Link to source: https://netzeroindustry.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/net_zero_steel_report.pdf
Devlin, A., Kossen, J., Goldie-Jones, H., & Yang, A. (2023). Global green hydrogen-based steel opportunities surrounding high quality renewable energy and iron ore deposits. Nature Communications, 14(1), 2578. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38123-2
Hubner Australia. (n.d.). Green steel manufacturing: Processes and comparisons. Hubner Australia. Link to source: https://hubner.au/green-steel-manufacturing/
IEA. (2020). Iron and steel technology roadmap. Link to source: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/eb0c8ec1-3665-4959-97d0-187ceca189a8/Iron_and_Steel_Technology_Roadmap.pdf
Kueppers, M., Hall, W., Levi, P., Simon, R., & Vass, T. (2023, July 11). Steel. IEA. Link to source: https://www.iea.org/energy-system/industry/steel
Lang, S., Kopf, M., & Valery, R. (2021, November 18). Cicored fine ore direct reduction—A proven process to decarbonize steelmaking. Metso. Link to source: https://www.metso.com/insights/blog/mining-and-metals/circored-fine-ore-direct-reduction-a-proven-process-to-decarbonize-steelmaking/
Leadit. (2025, May). Green steel tracker. Leadit Leadership Group for Industry Transition. Link to source: https://www.industrytransition.org/green-steel-tracker/
McKinsey & Company. (2024). Green-steel hubs: A pathway to decarbonize the steel industry. McKinsey & Company. Link to source: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/metals-and-mining/our-insights/green-steel-hubs-a-pathway-to-decarbonize-the-steel-industry#/
Milne, R. (2025, October 13). Flagship green steel start-up in funding crisis as Europe’s low-carbon ambitions falter. Financial Times. Link to source: https://www.ft.com/content/ac619c2d-9c7a-4208-baa5-6c648d10cacc
Net Zero Industry. (n.d.). Net zero steel pathways. Net Zero Industry. Link to source: https://netzeroindustry.org/net-zero-parhways /
Russell, C. (2025, May 29). Green steel is distant and expensive, but teal steel is coming. Reuters. Link to source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/green-steel-is-distant-expensive-teal-steel-is-coming-russell-2025-05-29/
Ryan, N. A., Miller, S. A., Skerlos, S. J., & Cooper, D. R. (2020). Reducing CO2 emissions from U.S. steel consumption by 70% by 2050. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(22). Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04321
Wrede, I. (2025, July 19). ArcelorMittal’s pullout plunges German green steel in doubt. DW. Link to source: https://www.dw.com/en/arcelormittals-pullout-plunges-german-green-steel-in-doubt/a-73303680
Zhang, J., Shen, H., Chen, Y., Meng, J., Li, J., He, J., Guo, P., Dai, R., Zhang, Y., Xu, R., Wang, J., Zheng, S., Lei, T., Shen, G., Wang, C., Ye, J., Zhu, L., Sun, H. Z., Fu, T.-M., … Tao, S. (2023). Iron and Steel Industry Emissions: A Global Analysis of Trends and Drivers. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(43), 16477–16488. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c05474
In Southeast Asia, the food, agriculture, and land use (FALU) sector is directly responsible for 54% of greenhouse gas emissions – more than twice the global average – making it one of the most important regions in the world to focus on food-related climate solutions. In a report published today by Project Drawdown and funded by members of Singapore-based Asia Philanthropy Circle, researchers provide a detailed roadmap outlining exactly what solutions are needed, when and where, to maximize the impact of emissions reduction efforts in the FALU sector across Southeast Asia.
“How we treat forests and peatlands in Southeast Asia – one of the most carbon-rich places on Earth – will be key to our climate future,” says Project Drawdown researcher Emily Cassidy, who co-authored the report. “Fortunately, as we show in this report, solutions exist that can significantly reduce emissions while improving the health, resilience, and economic security of communities.”
By synthesizing and analyzing data from hundreds of sources, the researchers show where FALU emissions are coming from across all 11 countries in the region, down to the provincial level. Moreover, they pinpoint geographic hot spots with the greatest potential for emissions reduction per land area without reducing crop yields.
“When you dive into the data, you find opportunities abound for farmers, philanthropists, and climate leaders to dramatically and efficiently reduce emissions,” says Project Drawdown Senior Scientist James Gerber, Ph.D., who co-authored the study. “For instance, focusing protection on just 20% of Indonesia’s carbon-densest forests could reduce 80% of the country’s deforestation emissions. Hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide, with one-fifth of the forest.”
Similarly, the researchers find that 64% of emissions savings from improved rice cultivation could be achieved on 20% of rice farms, and 80% of emissions savings from improved nutrient management could come from focusing on 20% of farms using excess fertilizers. “We kept uncovering this 80-20 phenomenon, wherein most of the emissions from a particular place, source, or practice could be reduced by implementing a solution over a relatively small area,” Gerber says.
Importantly, many of the climate solutions in the FALU sector that were assessed are emergency brake solutions that reduce potent, fast-acting greenhouse gases, such as methane, or prevent large pulses of emissions, such as from deforestation. Such solutions can play an outsized role in rapidly bending the curve on greenhouse gas emissions.
Beyond analyzing the emissions reductions of various FALU climate solutions, the researchers also discuss how these solutions may affect the economic and environmental well-being of local communities. They find that many of the solutions offer numerous benefits, including enhanced air and water quality, increased climate resilience, and more effective adaptation to extreme weather, all while boosting yields and farmer incomes. “For most of the solutions we analyze, we find that reducing emissions and improving environmental and human well-being is not either-or,” Cassidy says. “It’s yes-and.”
“Our members identified the knowledge gaps and commissioned this report to help provide a better understanding of the food and land use sectors’ impact on climate, biodiversity, and health in the region, which until now had been very fragmented,” says Esther Chang, CEO of the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), a community of philanthropists working together to drive collective action for Asia’s most pressing challenges.
“For the first time, we know which sectors and provinces we need to focus our attention on to address some of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions across Southeast Asia. Moving forward, we will convene our members, regional and global funders, and practitioners to explore how best to act on these findings through deep collaboration and collective impact,” she adds.
Key Findings
Press Contacts
Skylar Knight, skylar.knight@drawdown.org
Theresa Cua, theresa@asiaphilanthropycircle.org
Interviews and Drawdown Explorer demos available upon request
About Project Drawdown
Project Drawdown is the world’s leading guide to science-based climate solutions. Our mission is to drive meaningful climate action around the world. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown is funded by individual and institutional donations.
About Asia Philanthropy Circle
ASIA PHILANTHROPY CIRCLE is a community of philanthropists working together to solve Asia’s most challenging problems. Founded in 2015 by philanthropists, for philanthropists, APC is a safe, trusted space for peers to connect, exchange, and collaborate for lasting impact across the region. APC has since grown to over 60 members across 12 markets. APC is a registered charity headquartered in Singapore with roots throughout the region.
Project Drawdown researchers reveal province-level priorities for reducing emissions throughout the region
Heat pumps have been around for a long time. I mean a really long time.
The first heat pump was reportedly built in 1856 to dry salt in salt marshes. Today’s heat pumps, however, are far more useful. In fact, they are one of the most important technologies we have for slashing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
With a population of more than 18 million, Greater Los Angeles is one of the largest urban centers in the United States and among the most racially and culturally diverse cities in the country. As much an ecological patchwork as it is a cultural one, Los Angeles is also home to a variety of landscapes, including mountains, wetlands, beaches, deserts, and more, all of which support a wide range of plant and animal life. This combination of creative energy and diversity in both ecologies and cultures makes L.A. a natural place to find local leadership on climate solutions.
Over the course of seven episodes, Scott takes viewers on a journey throughout Los Angeles to "pass the mic" to climate heroes whose stories often go unheard. Each episode in the series features the story of a Los Angeleno change-maker looking to tap into their superpowers to accelerate climate solutions. Hear their voices, learn about their green careers, and find inspiration for how you can utilize your unique talents to take climate action and center justice no matter where you live.
“Earlier this year, devastating wildfires made Los Angeles the face of climate change-fuelled unnatural disasters,” Scott says. “But the faces most of us didn’t see are those of the people working day in and day out in the region to reduce pollution, make their communities more resilient, and bring about a better, more just future. Drawdown’s Neighborhood: Los Angeles shares some of those heroes’ stories, in their own words.”
Airing October 22, 2025
Airing October 29, 2025
Airing November 5, 2025
Airing November 12, 2025
Airing November 19, 2025
Press Contact
Skylar Knight, skylar.knight@drawdown.org
Interviews with Matt Scott or featured heroes available upon request
About Project Drawdown
Project Drawdown is the world’s leading guide to science-based climate solutions. Our mission is to drive meaningful climate action around the world. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown is funded by individual and institutional donations.
Drawdown's Neighborhood, presented by Project Drawdown and hosted by Director of Storytelling and Engagement Matt Scott, is a series of short documentaries featuring the stories of climate solutions heroes, city by city.
This edition – launching October 22 on Project Drawdown’s YouTube channel, with new episodes dropping weekly – takes viewers to Los Angeles, California.
Contrails, the long, thin clouds that form behind airplanes, trap heat radiating from the Earth, creating a strong but short-lived warming effect similar to that of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Rerouting airplanes to avoid areas where warming contrails can form reduces the warming impact of these human-made clouds. Rerouting aircraft to avoid turbulence is already an industry practice, and modeling studies plus industry trials have demonstrated that strategically rerouting a small fraction of flights can reduce contrail-induced warming at very low cost. However, adoption will require new regulations and policies, and the effect may be limited by uncertainties in the models used to predict both where warming contrails will form and their climate impacts, as well as by safety concerns in congested airspaces. The immediate and direct decrease in warming by reducing contrails makes this a high-priority “emergency brake” climate solution. However, because the industry is not ready to adopt the solution at scale today and because there are major gaps in the data on its potential effectiveness, we will “Keep Watching” this solution.
Based on our assessment, Reduce Airplane Contrails has the potential to rapidly reduce the direct climate warming impact of the aviation industry. However, because the solution is not already being adopted at scale and there is a lack of data on its effectiveness, we will “Keep Watching” this solution.
| Plausible | Could it work? | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | Is it ready? | No |
| Evidence | Are there data to evaluate it? | No |
| Effective | Does it consistently work? | Yes |
| Impact | Is it big enough to matter? | Yes |
| Risk | Is it risky or harmful? | No |
| Cost | Is it cheap? | Yes |
This solution reduces the warming impact of contrails by rerouting airplanes to avoid areas where contrails are likely to form. Contrails (also known as condensation trails) are long, thin clouds that form behind aircraft when the exhaust combines with cold, humid air to produce ice crystals at high altitudes. Contrails can trap heat radiating from the Earth, producing a strong but short-lived warming effect similar to that of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Most contrails dissipate quickly (<10 minutes), but under some meteorological conditions, they can persist for many hours. In regions with high air traffic density, contrails can cover a large fraction of the sky area, and even though they may last for only hours, the heat trapped in the atmosphere and oceans by contrails is multiplied by the tens of millions of flights per year. It’s important to note that not all contrails have a warming impact. The degree to which contrails warm or cool the atmosphere varies with time of day, season, atmospheric conditions at cruising altitudes, and whether the clouds form over land or ocean. Contrails that form during the day can have a net cooling effect by reflecting solar radiation back into space. However, the scientific consensus is that contrails overall have a net warming effect.
Modeling studies and field testing suggest that strategically rerouting flights to avoid areas where warming contrails are likely to form can substantially reduce contrail formation and their warming impacts. It is estimated that less than 20% of flights produce persistent contrails with a net warming effect, and rerouting the most impactful of these flights could reduce contrail-induced warming by as much as 80%, providing an immediate climate benefit. Rerouting aircraft to avoid turbulence is already a standard industry practice. These same protocols could be used for contrail avoidance with the addition of model forecasts for contrail formation into pre-flight planning and in-flight sensors and satellite measurements for in-flight responses.
Research suggests that the warming impact of contrails is roughly comparable to and additional to the warming from the direct GHG emissions from the aviation industry’s use of fossil fuels. Strategically rerouting air traffic to reduce the formation of warming contrails could have an immediate and globally meaningful climate impact, making this an “emergency brake” solution with the potential to deliver a beneficial impact more rapidly than many other climate solutions. In addition, this solution could be implemented at scale relatively quickly, even as supportive predictive models, meteorological monitoring, and instrument integration technologies improve. Progress is already being made. Industry trials are already underway, and on-board humidity sensors that can identify when an airplane is moving through a contrail-forming region are being developed. The European Union now requires major aircraft operators to report modeled data on their contrail formation as part of their emissions reporting. This sets the stage for policies that require warming contrail avoidance. Finally, this high-impact climate solution is relatively low-cost. The costs for additional sensors and fuel are estimated to be US$10–15 per flight, or the equivalent of US$1–6/t CO₂‑eq avoided.
Policy and regulatory changes will be needed to support the adoption of rerouting protocols to avoid warming contrails, and implementation could be restricted by uncertainties in the models and by safety concerns. Multilateral industry and government cooperation will be necessary to draft new regulations to support rerouting to avoid warming contrails, and timelines must be established for mandatory implementation. While models that forecast where warming contrails are likely to form exist, they are limited by a lack of data on humidity levels at cruising altitudes and require more validation to assess how accurately they project contrail formation. In addition, better tools to monitor and model the effectiveness of rerouting in preventing the formation of warming contrails are needed, especially when the added emissions from fuel use could exceed the climate benefits of the contrails avoided. Rerouting opportunities may also be limited by safety concerns in congested airspaces.
Cathcart, J., Andrews, S., Chen, A., Cornec, H., Kumar, S., Majholm, J., Meijers, M., Meijers, N., Miller, R., Mukhopadhaya, J., Sachdeva, N., Shapiro, M., Stern, C., & Wendling, Z. (2024). Understanding contrail management: Opportunities, challenges and insights. Rocky Mountain Institute. Link to source: https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/07/understanding_contrail_management_report.pdf
Hodgson, R. (2024, September 2). Airlines must monitor vapour trails under new EU climate rules. Euro News. Link to source: https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/09/02/airlines-must-monitor-vapour-trails-under-new-eu-climate-rules
International Air Transport Association. (2024). Aviation contrails and their climate effects. Link to source: https://www.iata.org/contentassets/726b8a2559ad48fe9decb6f2534549a6/aviation-contrails-climate-impact-report.pdf
International Air Transport Association. (2025). Industry statistics. Link to source: https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/pressroom/fact-sheets/industry-statistics/
Kärcher, B. (2018). Formation and radiative forcing of contrail cirrus. Nature Communications, 9(1), 1824. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04068-0
Lee, D. S., Fahey, D. W., Skowron, A., Allen, M. R., Burkhardt, U., Chen, Q., Doherty, S. J., Freeman, S., Forster, P. M., Fuglestvedt, J., Gettelman, A., De León, R. R., Lim, L. L., Lund, M. T., Millar, R. J., Owen, B., Penner, J. E., Pitari, G., Prather, M. J., … Wilcox, L. J. (2021). The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing for 2000 to 2018. Atmospheric Environment, 244, 117834. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117834
Lombardo, T. (2025, January 16). Aviation. International Energy Agency (IEA). Link to source: https://www.iea.org/energy-system/transport/aviation
Martin Frias, A., Shapiro, M. L., Engberg, Z., Zopp, R., Soler, M., & Stettler, M. E. J. (2024). Feasibility of contrail avoidance in a commercial flight planning system: An operational analysis. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 4(1), 015013. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/ad310c
Ritchie, H. (2025). Eliminating contrails from flying could be incredibly cheap. Sustainability by numbers. Link to source: https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/eliminating-contrails
Teoh, R., Schumann, U., & Stettler, M. E. J. (2020). Beyond Contrail Avoidance: Efficacy of Flight Altitude Changes to Minimise Contrail Climate Forcing. Aerospace, 7(9), 121. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace7090121
Thomas, T. M., Duan, L., Bala, G., & Caldeira, K. (2025). A Stylized Study of the Climate Response to Longwave and Shortwave Forcing at the Altitude of Aviation‐Induced Cirrus. Earth’s Future, 13(10), e2025EF006201. Link to source: https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF006201
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