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Steelmaking has to get greener. But who'll pay?
鋼鐵行業必須變得更加環保。但誰來為此買單？
Dates assigned to environmental targets often seem reassuringly - or complacently - distant.
為實現環保目標定下的日期往往遙遠得令人安心或自滿。
By 2050, the British government has promised, the country's net emissions of greenhouse gases will be zero.
英國政府承諾，到2050年，英國將實現溫室氣體“凈零排放”。
Its advisers on the Climate Change Committee have recommended that steelmaking, which belches about one-tenth of Britain's industrial emissions, should be "near-zero" by 2035.
英國氣候變化委員會的顧問建議，到2035年，鋼鐵行業的排放量應該“接近于零”。而目前，這個數字約占英國工業排放量的十分之一。
If that sounds leisurely, it is anything but.
這聽起來不是什么要緊事，但事實絕非如此。
Both steelmakers and ministers must make uncomfortable decisions, involving billions of pounds and thousands of jobs, uncomfortably soon.
鋼鐵制造商和部長們必須盡快做出決定，這些令人不快的決定事關數十億英鎊和數千個工作崗位。
Britain's two biggest industrial emitters are steelworks: Tata Steel UK's at Port Talbot in south Wales and British Steel's at Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.
英國最大的兩個工業排放者是：位于南威爾士塔爾伯特港的塔塔鋼鐵英國公司，和位于林肯郡斯肯索普的英國鋼鐵公司。
Both make iron and then steel in blast and basic oxygen furnaces, using iron ore, coke - made from coal - and other materials.
這兩家公司都使用鐵礦石、用煤制成的焦炭和其他材料，在鼓風爐和堿性氧氣爐中先煉鐵，然后煉鋼。
A first step to greener steel would be to switch to electric arc furnaces (EAFS), in which the main inputs are scrap steel and electricity.
讓鋼鐵行業更環保的第一步是改用電弧爐（EAFS），用這種爐子冶煉投入的主要是廢鋼和電力。
(The total cut in carbon emissions depends on how the electricity is generated.)
（碳排放的總減少量取決于發電方式。）
British Steel is also looking at carbon capture.
英國鋼鐵公司也在考慮使用碳捕獲技術。
A further green goal for the global industry is to use hydrogen in "direct reduction", a process that reduces iron ore to metallic iron for feeding into EAFS.
全球鋼鐵行業的另一個環保目標是在“直接還原”中使用氫能，“直接還原”是一種將鐵礦石還原為金屬鐵的過程，還原后的金屬能夠使用電弧爐再次冶煉。
The clock is ticking: one blast furnace at Port Talbot will need replacing, refurbishing or decommissioning in perhaps three years.
時鐘在滴答作響：塔爾伯特港的鼓風爐可能要在三年內更換、翻新或正式停用。
The cost of switching Port Talbot to EAFS has been put at up to 3bn Pounds ($3.6bn).
把塔爾伯特港的原有設備全部換為電弧爐的成本預計將高達30億英鎊（合36億美元）。
Upgrading Scunthorpe will also cost a ten-figure sum.
斯肯索普的設備升級也將花費十位數的金額。
These would be gulpworthy amounts even in a thriving industry.
即使是在蓬勃發展的行業，這些數字也令人難以接受。
But steel in Britain is struggling.
但英國的鋼鐵行業正在艱難抗爭。
Last year output slid by 16% to 6.1m tonnes, the lowest amount since 1932.
去年，英國鋼鐵產量下滑16%，至610萬噸，為1932年以來的最低值。
British Steel, bought out of insolvency by Jingye, a Chinese company, in 2020, is reportedly contemplating 800 job cuts at Scunthorpe.
英國鋼鐵公司于2020年被中國敬業集團收購，目前英國鋼鐵公司正考慮在斯肯索普裁員800人。
Last month Liberty Steel said it would reduce production at its EAF in Rotherham, in Yorkshire, and idle other facilities; as many as 400 jobs may go.
上個月，自由鋼鐵公司表示，將減少約克郡羅瑟勒姆電弧爐的鋼鐵產量，停用其他設施；并可能會裁員多達400人。
Indian-owned Tata Steel UK did make a profit before tax in 2021-22, but that was the first for 13 years.
印度擁有的塔塔鋼鐵英國公司在2021-22年實現了稅前盈利，但這是13年以來的第一次。
