BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - In view of the high emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases in industry, the environmental organization WWF is calling for greater government intervention. For example, government demands should only flow into climate-protecting measures, especially the production of green hydrogen, said WWF climate chief Viviane Raddatz in Berlin on Tuesday. The organization published in addition an evaluation of the enterprises, which cause in Germany most greenhouse gases.

Among the thirty industrial plants with the largest emissions in Germany, iron and steel production dominates. According to the study by the Öko-Institut on behalf of WWF Germany, corresponding plants occupy places 1 to 13, followed by a lime plant. "The industrial sector is a heavyweight in CO2 emissions and thus also in climate protection," Raddatz said. A change is urgently needed here to protect the climate and jobs in equal measure. She demanded that the German government "develop a comprehensive strategy for climate protection in industry."

According to the Expert Council on Climate Issues, Germany emitted a total of 746 million metric tons of greenhouse gases last year - these are preliminary figures. At 164 million metric tons, industry ranked second behind the energy sector as a source of climate-damaging gases.

The largest greenhouse gas emitters are located to a large extent in western Germany. Many of them recorded falling emissions in 2022 compared with the previous year, by an average of 7 percent, although this is also likely to be a result of the energy crisis. According to the report, the top five positions were occupied by the following plants last year:

- Duisburg integrated steel mill of thyssenkrupp with 7.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gases per year

- Hüttenwerke Glocke Duisburg of Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) with 4.2 million tons

- Pig iron production Dillingen (Saarland) of Rogesa

Roheisengesellschaft Saar with 4.0 million tons

- Glocke Salzgitter of Salzgitter Flachstahl with 3.7 million tons, and

- Hallendorf power plant of Salzgitter Flachstahl with 3.6 million tons.

In response to a question from the German press agency dpa, the companies referred to their plans for CO2 reduction.

"As the operator of Europe's largest steel site, we stand for 2.5 percent of Germany's CO2 emissions," said a spokesman for thyssenkrupp Steel (TKS). "We have to and want to change that." To that end, he said, the company recently awarded a contract to build a hydrogen-based direct reduction plant, the largest in Germany. "This will already enable us to save 3.5 million tons of our CO2 emissions." TKS is also the largest shareholder in Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), which among other things operates two blast furnaces in Duisburg. Plans to decarbonize HKM are to be further developed and concretized, it said.

Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS), the parent company of Rogesa, stated that it intends to produce CO2-reduced steel in the future, subject to official requirements. To this end, a direct reduction plant and two electric arc furnaces are to be built by 2030. From 2027, 3.5 million metric tons of green steel are to be produced in the Saarland, and 55 percent CO2 is to be saved by 2030. SHS and its subsidiaries Dillinger and Saarstahl are thus taking on a "pioneering role" in decarbonization, it said. By 2045, the entire blast furnace production should then be replaced and 80 percent CO2 saved.

When asked, Salzgitter AG CEO Gunnar Groebler explained that his company's steel mills were among the most efficient in the world. In fact, a lot of CO2 is released and efforts are being made to reduce it. One project has succeeded in producing steel with virtually no CO2 emissions, and the technology is to be used at the Salzgitter site from 2025/2026. Instead of coal, hydrogen will then also be used as an energy source. "The transformation is huge and, in addition to immense investment funds, also needs access to green electricity and green hydrogen - neither of which is available in sufficient quantities today," Groebler continued.

There are different recording methods for greenhouse gas emissions by sector. The authors of the study based the recording of the respective plants on the methodology used in EU emissions trading, in which emitters must prove that they have rights to emit climate-damaging gases and can thus trade them. This means that the authors do not cover part of the industry, for example mobile machinery in the construction industry. In its analysis, the Öko-Institut focuses on industrial production sites, while industrial power plants are largely excluded.

The WWF criticized that although emissions of climate-damaging gases in the industrial sector have fluctuated since 2010, there is a lack of a structurally induced decline. The use and capture of carbon dioxide, which the German government is also considering, must be "the last option," said climate chief Raddatz. Avoiding emissions must take precedence, she said. So-called climate protection contracts, with which the government wants to cushion the financial risk of switching to climate-friendly new technologies, were welcomed by the organization./hrz/DP/jha