Iron and steel production accounts for a large proportion of the emissions of industrial greenhouse gases in Germany. This is the result of a study by the Öko-Institut on behalf of the environmental organization WWF Germany.

According to the Expert Council for Climate Issues, Germany emitted a total of 746 million tons of greenhouse gases last year - these are preliminary figures. As a source of climate-damaging gases, industry was in second place behind the energy industry with 164 million tons.

In their paper, the Öko-Institut and the WWF break down the top 30 industrial plants in Germany according to greenhouse gas emissions. The focus is on industrial production sites. Industrial power plants largely exclude them. Plants from iron and steel production occupy places 1 to 13, followed by a lime plant.

There are different methods of recording greenhouse gas emissions by sector. When recording the respective plants, the authors of the study oriented themselves on the methodology of EU emissions trading, in which emitters have to prove rights to emit gases that are harmful to the climate and can trade with them. The authors thus do not cover part of the industry, for example mobile machines in the construction industry.

Communication from the WWF audit report of the Expert Council on Climate Issues from April