The steel industry uses energy both to supply heat and
power for plant operations and as a raw material for the production of blast furnace coke.
According to the most recent Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS), the U.S.
steel industry consumed about 2.0 quads (quadrillion Btu, or 1015 Btu) of
energy in 1994 (including electricity losses incurred during the distribution, generation,
and transmission of electricity). According to data compiled by the American Iron and
Steel Institute, total energy consumption in 1997 was about 1.8 quads with electricity
losses included [AISI 1998]. This represents about 2.5% of
domestic energy use and about 8% of all U.S. manufacturing energy use.
* The 1991 and 1994 figures inlude an estimate of
shipments of energy sources produced onsite in order to be comparable to figures from 1985
and 1988 which also include a shipments estimate that MECS made no attempt to measure. Source: MECS 1985, 1988, 1991, and 1994
About half of the steel industry’s energy is derived from
coal
A large portion of the energy is consumed during the reduction
of iron ore to pig iron
Close to 40% of energy is used in blast furnace ironmaking
Energy costs account for about 15% of the manufacturing cost
of steel
Approximately 10% of electricity at steel facilities is
generated onsite
Energy intensity measures the energy consumed per dollar of
products shipped
