THE KOŠICE plant of U.S. Steel belongs among the biggest European producers of greenhouse gases. According to data published by the European Commission, it released almost 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the air in 2008, which ranked it as the 23rd largest greenhouse gas producer in the European Union. But this level was a year-on-year decrease from the emissions volume of 9.7 million tonnes in 2007, when the steelworks placed 19th, the SITA newswire wrote. The reason, paradoxically, is that the economic crisis caused serious production cutbacks at the steelworks.
“During the production of iron and steel, carbon is chemically released and thus CO2 emissions are directly proportional to the use of production capacities,” Ľubomíra Šoltésová, media relations manager of U.S. Steel Košice (USSK), told SITA. “In connection with the unprecedented crisis, it is no surprise that CO2 emissions which are directly connected to industrial production have decreased.”
The Košice steelworks intends to further decrease emissions of greenhouse gases through investments in ecological projects, improving production processes and other capital investments. These measures will probably lead to further emissions cuts by USSK throughout this year. Last year the company did not draw all of its allocated volume of emission quotas, using only 83 percent of its total allocated quota of 10.8 million tonnes.