According to the World Steel Association, besides producing 1.86 billion tons of steel last year, steelmakers also generated over 3 billion tons of CO2, which is 7 to 9% of all greenhouse-gas emissions. If the steel industry were a country, its carbon dioxide emissions would rank third in the world, between the US and India. Since steel products play such a crucial role that demand for them may never drop, how can the industry ever be aligned with climate protection goals?
Determined to contribute, NEUMAYER has already seen success in developing solutions to this problem. Building on its 150-year history of leading-edge forging and manufacturing of steel parts, its innovations not only strengthen the industry, they also prove that "green forging" is possible.
Dirk A. Neumayer, co-owner and CEO of NEUMAYER, says, “Climate protection is our guiding star. Our energy-intensive business provides us with many opportunities to contribute effectively to limiting global warming.”
A 5th-generation family-run business with over 420 employees, NEUMAYER forges, manufactures and assembles high-tech steel components for the automotive and industrial sectors. Although processing steel and protecting the climate seem antithetical, NEUMAYER has turned the scenario on its head.
Drawing on inspirations from nature combined with extensive knowledge of the forging process and the material properties of steel, NEUMAYER’s engineers build sustainability into the forged pieces from step one, designing them to be as lightweight as possible. These parts require less steel and less energy to make – and down the road, the weight savings propagate into even more CO2 savings for the end consumer.
NEUMAYER prevents greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies. A certified energy management system not only enables the company to calculate the carbon footprint for each product, it also supports targeted improvement measures – as well as the verification of their effectiveness.
“Several thousand tons of CO2 emissions are avoided every year thanks to our innovative heat treatment process, which uses the residual heat of the forged parts instead of natural gas,” explains Andreas Harter, Head of Development at NEUMAYER.
Since 2020, when it invested millions of euros to modernize its heating technology, the company has cut its consumption of electric power by over 2 million kWh each year.
And since January 2021, 100% of its externally-sourced electricity comes from hydropower. As of the end of 2022, the base load will be met by an onsite photovoltaic system and in 2023, a new remote solar plant will be commissioned for NEUMAYER – large enough for forging entirely with solar energy on a sunny day.
As a result, the greenhouse gas emissions under its direct influence will represent only 10% of its 2018 carbon footprint.
NEUMAYER’s customers also place importance on achieving sustainability goals. “More than one in ten of those forged parts are now installed in electric vehicles, and that number is still growing fast,” explains Mr Neumayer. “Our customers’ ambitions to reduce CO2 in their supply chains open doors for our climate-friendly innovations.”
NEUMAYER has woven climate protection throughout its entire value chain. Although its self-imposed goal of complete carbon neutrality by 2039 may seem like reaching for the stars, judging by the milestones it has already passed, it’s actually quite down-to-earth.
