Motoring

Low-CO2 Steel and Green Aluminum for Nissan

by: BTM - Thu, 02 Feb 2023

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Nissan) and Kobe Steel, Ltd. (Kobe Steel) have announced that Nissan plans to use Kobenable Steel for Nissan models from January 2023. Kobe Steel will also supply Nissan with aluminum sheets made from green-aluminum raw materials. This will be the first time Kobenable Steel will be used in mass-produced vehicles.

Kobenable steel significantly reduces CO2 emissions in the blast furnace process. The green aluminum raw materials purchased by Kobe Steel to produce aluminum sheets for Nissan are electrolytically smelted using only electricity generated by solar power, thereby reducing CO2 emissions during aluminum ingot production by approximately 50 percent. Recycled aluminum materials generated at Nissan’s manufacturing sites will also be used to further reduce CO2 emissions during production.

Nissan aims to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the entire product life cycle by 2050. Since approximately 60 percent of a vehicle’s weight is made up of steel parts and around 10 percent of its weight is made up of aluminum parts, the use of green steel and green aluminum is a very effective way to reduce CO2 emissions during parts manufacturing, which is part of the vehicle’s life cycle.