Plant in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Gerdau is the largest Brazilian steel producer, the largest recycler in Latin America (11 million tonnes of scrap are recycled annually), and the largest charcoal producer in the world - with 250 thousand hectares of forestry base. Charcoal is used a bioreducer, replacing the use of coal in Divinópolis mill.

Description of Technology:

Charcoal is used as a bioreducer, replacing the use of mineral coal in Divinópolis Mill. It comes from Gerdau planted forests. CO2 emission factor for for charcoal (Scope 1) is zero (because it has CO2 biogenic emissions, according to IPCC). Gerdau is the largest charcoal producer in the world, it has more than 250 thousand hectares of forests, being 90 thousand of them for biodiversity conservation. Forests also remove CO2 from the atmosphere and they also store it (these values are not discounted of Gerdau's GHG emisisons inventory, but they reinforce the important role of the forests in terms of environmental gains achieved through forestry assets).

Sector:

Steel

Type of Supplier:

Final Product Supplier

Supplier Geography:

Brazil

Expected Capacity (Mt/Year):

.1-.25