Why BMW is Investing in CO2 Free Steel Production?
🔍Insights
BMW i Ventures is a venture capital fund that is based in Europe. BMW i Ventures invests resources and money in startups in the fields of e-mobility, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, sustainability, and so on. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Alitheon, Chargepoint, Tekion, and many more.
BMW i Ventures invests in all stages of a startup from seed and incubation to growth companies. The company is all set to invest in a startup called Boston Steel which would produce carbon dioxide-free steel.
Why BMW decided to Invest in CO2 Free Steel Production
Reason
The Process
Methods taken by BMW Group towards Sustainability
FAQ
Why BMW decided to Invest in CO2 Free Steel Production
The BMW Group is systematically trying to implement its goals to avoid depletion of natural resources. They are trying to focus on maintaining ecological balance through its new method. BMW Group is investing in a company that has an innovative method to produce Steel that is free of carbon di-oxide.
It is a method developed by an American Startup called Boston Metal. BMW is providing venture capital funds to the Boston Metal through BMW i Ventures.
The company has plans to expand its production of steel which is free of CO2 at an industrial level in the coming years. BMW is investing in the startup as its method to reduce the emission of CO2 within its suppliers’ network.
Yash Gupta
Reason
BMW has said that they were significantly trying to maintain ecological balance and working towards sustainability. They were trying to identify the raw materials and components in their supplier network which produces a high amount of CO2 and that was steel.
Steel is very important for the production of cars and even if they were planning to produce electric cars which run through green energy. The company will still have to use the steel for manufacturing. It will be important even for future car productions.
Steel will always remain an important raw material for the production of cars and other parts in it. BMW group press plants in Europe produce more than half a million tones of steel every year and they have continuously been trying to reduce the CO2 emission from their productions.
Dr. Andreas Wendt who is a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG who is responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network. He told that by 2030 they are trying to reduce the CO2 emissions to be lower than two million tones compared to the present.
Souvik Dey
The Process
In the general method of production of steel, the blast furnaces are used which would generate carbon dioxide. But the startup Boston Metal uses a new technology through electricity. The company uses an electrolysis cell that will produce molten iron. This molten iron is later converted into steel.
If the electricity used for this process is through a renewable source of energy, then the steel produced will be free of carbon dioxide. The startup is set to build the demonstration facilities required for the production of steel in the coming years and later has plans to expand it to the industrial level.
Tadeu Carneiro who is the chairman and CEO of Boston Metal has said that they have investors across the steel value chain who are from the top iron ore and mining companies to the end customers. He says that they validate and support the innovative process of production of steel at high quality and cost competitively.
Methods taken by BMW Group towards Sustainability
BMW group has said that they have ambitious targets to increase the use of green energy and innovative technologies to increase sustainability. They said that investing in projects like Boston Metals is one of the steps they are taking to meet its steel supply chain. BMW group has said that for every contract low-carbon production is an important award criterion.
BMW Group has also said that it is important for their partners also to be committed towards sustainability and to use new technologies which have low carbon emissions. They added that the use of green power is really important and that they have already been working with suppliers who use green power for the steel they produce for them.
BMW group has said its goal to safeguard the reserves of raw materials by reusing the raw materials. It has plans to increase the percentage of the use of recycled raw materials by 2030. All the steel wastes during the production process are recycled and reused as direct material or it is sent back to the production cycle and used as new steel.
The recycling of the waste steel would reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, it helps in conserving the natural resources and reduces the amount of energy required for the production of new steel.
FAQ
Who are the founders of BMW?
Karl Rapp, Camillo Castiglioni, Gustav Otto, Franz Josef Popp are the founders of BMW.
When was the first BMW made?
First BMW was made in 7 March 1916, in Munich, Germany.
Is Rolls-Royce owned by BMW?
Rolls-Royce was bought in 1998 by the Volkswagen Group, but they neglected to acquire the rights to the Rolls-Royce name. BMW bought those rights that same year, and took over production of Rolls-Royce cars in 2003.
Conclusion
The BMW Group had maintained a close relationship with Boston Metals from last year through its own research activities and through the BMW Startup Garage. BMW startup garage shares ideas with around 1,000 startups every year.
It is mainly focused on seeking innovations that will benefit the products and services of the company. BMW startup garage helps the BMW Group in having an early access to innovations before it is available to the market.
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