Near Zero stands for the best class.

The current best solution in the industry is based on direct reduction of iron (DRI) and steelmaking in electric arc furnaces (EAF). The plant concepts have been partially tested and will be implemented in the first small-scale plants from 2025. In the further course of development, natural gas will initially be used as a reducing agent in the DRI reactor. The more green hydrogen is available, the more it displaces natural gas from the process.

Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using green electricity and water. Together with iron ore pellets, this is reduced to sponge iron in the DRI reactor by direct reduction. The sponge iron obtained is melted into crude steel by feeding scrap into the electric arc furnace. The subsequent processes such as hot rolling, cold rolling and surface coating, e.g. hot-dip galvanising, are connected. With this process route, CO₂-emissions of less than 450 kg CO₂e per tonne of coil can be achieved, which would be NEAR ZERO.

The label:

The label makes the various solutions offered by steel manufacturers transparent. The focus is on the basic product with the highest emissions, namely from the raw material through crude steel production to the hot-rolled coil. To this end, Stahlo has developed a combined label that expands the Low Emission Steel Standard (Less) of the German Steel Federation with additional information on the main elements of the process. This gives Stahlo customers the transparency and comparability of the Less classification as well as further information about the "HOW" of the manufacturer. The various elements of production are represented by simple symbols.