Green steel

Green steel

Subject: Environment

Context:

• Achieving green steel: How India can bridge the gaps to decarbonise the sector

Steel sector :

• The steel industry is very important for the Indian economy and has been the backbone of the country’s industrial development.
• More than 75% of steel is still largely made in coal-fired blast furnaces, which pump large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

What is green steel ?

• Essentially, green steel is the manufacturing of steel without the use of fossil fuels.
• So-called “green hydrogen” is one solution that could help reduce the steel industry’s carbon footprint.

Transitions in the Indian steel sector

• At present, the country’s iron and steel sector is financially weak. More than 80 per cent of the country’s reserves are in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and the northern regions of Andhra Pradesh.
• Western states Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka have made good use of the available non-conventional sources of energy in the region. This can be further developed once the greening of the grid happens.
• A clean steel sector in eastern India can become an essential part of the green energy transition happening across the country.

Decarbonising the sector: Green steel:

• In order to decarbonise the iron and steel sector, the primary emphasis through technological interventions would be on substituting the primary production processes with cleaner alternatives.
• The three main ways to produce steel from iron through clean technologies are :
  • Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)
  • Replacing conventional sources of energy with low-carbon hydrogen
  • Direct electrification through electrolysis of iron ore

Some of the interventions to be explored are:

• Increasing energy efficiency through the adoption of technologies that are cost-effective should be allowed especially.
• There are many old plants that need to be refurbished. Such plants can improve their energy efficiency with the application of largely used efficiency measures.
• Electricity-based manufacturing methods would continue to become green as the grid becomes greener.
• Increasing the use of scrap helps in lowering the energy used for making steel since it can be added to electric arc furnaces and blast furnaces, with basic oxygen furnace methods.
• Constructing a suitable infrastructure for recycling
• India has gained success through its Perform Achieve Trade scheme, according to which energy efficiency certificates are traded between the designated consumers. These include the iron and steel sector.