Steel, aluminum, cement. Indispensable（必不可少的） for us all. But their production is a gargantuan problem for the environment. If we want to save our climate, our earth, we need to profoundly（深深地） change industry. Because it's heating up our planet, with greenhouse gases and an insatiable（贪得无厌的） appetite（食欲） for energy. We have Dubai grid（网格） and we are comparable（可比较的） in what we utilize（利用） for our process.

  The rethink is beginning, slowly but urgently. If radical（基本的） change doesn't occur in these industrial sectors, we won't be able to hit the targets. How can the big environmental offenders clean up their act? A climate-friendly commute（通勤（口语）） to work. Dr.Mohammad Safi's routine for 15 years. I cycle to work whatever the weather.

  I see it as a challenge, as a task. I need to do my bid, in both my professional and my private life. But in the workplace, that's not so easy for Mr.Safi. His employer produces steel, making（使） it one of the big environmental offenders. The engineer is deputy（副的） plant manager at Asalomital in Hamburg, responsible for the smooth running of the furnaces. Steel.

  We can't manage without it. It's in buildings, vehicles and household appliances（用具）. But its production is harmful to our climate, and the steel industry isn't the only offender. If you include energy and heat consumption in the math, the industry is responsible for 43% of global emissions. Significantly more than the construction and transport sectors. More than 70% of industrial emissions stem（起源） from the manufacture of just three basic substances, steel, cement and chemicals.

  Steel production was responsible for some 3 billion tons of CO2 in the last year alone. Mostly to blame, the blast（爆炸） furnaces, where the vast amounts of coal are burned. The production of one ton of crude（天然的） steel results in two tons of CO2. Normally, but not in Hamburg. Here, something's happening that's a better fit（合身） for Mohammed Safi's philosophy. I'm personally trying to live an eco-friendly life.

  That's why I'm pleased if the process I'm working in is also climate friendly, and isn't causing lasting environmental damage. But how's that supposed to work? Climate friendly steel production? The first ingredient, natural gas replacing coal as a source of energy. This emits less CO2. Ingredient number two, steel recycling.

  Cutting emissions by two-thirds compared to production in the blast furnace. But researchers see perhaps the most potential in green hydrogen（[化学] 氢）, a source of energy seen as a future replacement（归还） for coal and gas, which is expensive and now in short supply. It's a crucial time for Mohammed Safi and his boss Uwe Braun. They're discussing where to locate the new hydrogen plant. We're the trail（痕迹）-bazers. We've got the means to move things in the right direction.

  But we also need support in a political level. On the one hand we need vast quantities of hydrogen. We need the green electricity and of course the economic framework for our products. In other words, it's going to be expensive. On the road to emissions-free steel, who's picking up the tab? And how long will it take?

  Germany's climate action package sets out an ambitious road map for the years up to 2030. Economist Katja Schumacher says much of the pressure is now on industry. A lot still needs to happen before 2030. Emissions have to be reduced by another 30%. The government's official projection（投射） reports suggest that if significantly greater efforts aren't made（使） now, industry won't hit its targets in 2030. Some individuals are well on the way to hitting their targets.

  One of them is Mohammed Safi. He tries to adopt a green lifestyle wherever possible. He built his house in 2012, with environmental protection in mind. There are solar panels on the roof. His heating system runs on geothermal（地热的） energy, making it 100% climate neutral. But for the engineer, there's always room for improvement.

  Together with his sons, he weighs up how to make his home even more eco-friendly. At the moment, the roof only has solar panels facing south and west. "It would be good if we could include the eastern side, to use the sun's energy in the mornings too." Compared to what industry needs to do, his contribution to climate protection is tiny. "Everyone can play a part. Whether it's separating trash, installing solar panels, using electric cars or public transport. If every single one of us makes little contributions like these, of course the overall effect will be huge."

  But not nearly as huge as measures taken by industry. After all, it's been producing the most harmful substances to date. But can these emissions also be useful? Steel production at Tüssenkrup in Duisburg. Here, experts are homing in on waste gases from steel production, primarily carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide（一氧化物）. In the past, they were usually flared off.

  Physicist Markus Olus now collects them with his plant, his goal to utilize waste gases as a raw material. "Today, it's not possible to design all chemical processes in a way that produces no CO2 at all. And steelmaking is ultimately a chemical process. The question is what to do with it afterwards. And we think we've found an answer. To pass on remaining CO2 emissions from one industry to the next, where they can be recycled as a raw material." Markus Olus is keen to find out if this can work, together with colleague Tim Scholzka.

  The engineer from the Frauenhofer Institute has built a test plant to produce methanol using waste gases, other necessary ingredients, hydrogen and oxygen. Eco-friendly methanol works well as fuel. In the shipping（[船] 船舶） industry, for example. A methanol powered ferry is already plying the waters between Kiel and Gothenburg. Waste gases for methanol production.