Energy Conservation and Generation
The Ohio steel industry is the largest industrial energy-consuming sector in the state, yet it is also a producer of electricity and an innovator in conservation. Steel companies that make up the Ohio Steel Council spend approximately $1.6 billion on energy each year to operate their Ohio-based facilities. Each year, Ohio steel producers invest about $137 million in programs to conserve energy, reducing the amount of electricity and natural gas consumed per ton of steel produced. By re-burning blast furnace gases – a process known as co-generation – Ohio steel companies heat their own buildings, provide heat and steam for production operations and generate 351,197 Mkwh of new electricity per year. In recent years, innovative solutions have enabled energy reductions at some steel plants of up to 17 percent per ingot of steel produced. Nationally, the steel industry has reduced energy used per ton of steel produced by 33 percent since 1990. Many Ohio steel companies have worked with the Energy Industries of Ohio (EIO), the Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other partners to introduce improvements and take part in experimental programs. For example, Republic Engineered Products, Inc. worked with the government to install a new, highly durable material, aluminum bronze, for skirting material on its basic oxygen furnace (BOF), resulting in reduced downtime. Downtime is costly because firing the furnace back up burns large amounts of energy. . | 
