New Delhi, Dec 21

Union Minister of Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Tuesday, urged the industry to adopt newer technologies that have lower carbon emission; and ready itself towards green steel-making.

He also maintained that the Centre could look at having policies that dedicate a certain percentage of the production lines in mills towards making of such green steel. Even government projects would look to promote use of such offerings.

While there is no specific definition, green steel is considered to be manufactured through usage of low carbon energy sources such as coal gassification or hydrogen rather than use of coking coal.

CO2 emissions

Globally, the steel industry is responsible for 7 per cent of the CO2 emissions. Indian steel industry accounts for 12 per cent of that 7 per cent.

“There will come a time in the near distant future when today’s raw materials that are used for steel production - be it iron ore or coking coal will no longer be a viable option, not necessarily from a cost structure parameter but from a environmental, social and governance (ESG) parameter,” he said while launching India’s first green steel brand ‘Saarloha Kalyani FeRRESTA’ by Kalyani Group.

According to Scindia, the government will support decarbonisation in the steel industry by encouraging enhanced use of renewable sources of energy, application of resource-efficient materials, further expansion of scrap usage, possible use of green hydrogen (as furnace fuel), and exploration of carbon capture utilisation and storage.

“The cost of hydrogen is about $ 6 per kg; and only when it will come to $ 1 – 2 per kg does it make economic sense in the use of steel. Those issues will be overcome in the next 3 to 5 years. The final pillar on the supply side is carbon captured utilisation and storage. This is an area where we are already concentratingin India,” he said.

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