Kazakhstan is one of the world's largest producers of metals such as uranium, iron, steel, copper, zinc and aluminium. This makes metallurgy, in particular the iron and steel industry, one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG) in Kazakhstan's industrial sector. Kazakhstan has set itself the goal of achieving a climate-neutral economy by 2060. The country’s strategy for achieving climate neutrality includes the transformation of the Kazakh steel and aluminium industries to almost GHG neutral production.
Against this background, the overarching objective of the DeKaMe project was to provide a knowledge base on which Kazakh policymakers and stakeholders can draw to define technological pathways towards a deep decarbonisation of steel and aluminium industries in Kazakhstan and for the design of supporting policy instruments.
The project team identified and described technological options for decarbonising the iron and steel industry as well as the aluminium industry and summarised their advantages and disadvantages in the Kazakh context. In order to provide the Kazakh authorities with a broad portfolio of policy options, the researchers also identified and described policy instruments for decarbonising the steel and aluminium industries, including best-practice examples and international activities on green lead markets. To collect data and validate the findings, stakeholder interviews were conducted. The project results were presented in a webinar to Kazakh stakeholders.