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Context

• In March 2023, Union Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia approved the formation of 13 task forces to identify action points for each aspect of green steel production and the adoption of sustainable manufacturing processes

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.
• “When burned, hydrogen emits only water. And if that hydrogen is produced via electrolysis using just water and renewable electricity, then it is completely free of CO₂ emissions,” according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group (MHI). Hydrogen can also be low carbon if produced using fossil fuels and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, says MHI. This is known as “blue hydrogen”.
• Electric arc furnaces are another option. These furnaces are gradually replacing traditional ones, but they are not always powered by renewable sources, and therefore the steel they produce may not always be green.

Why can’t all steel be green?

• Some of the world’s biggest manufacturers are planning to reduce their carbon footprint by increasing the use of electric furnaces. But a report by the NGO Global Energy Monitor, says the shift from traditional blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces is “stagnant” and significantly behind decarbonization targets.
• It says 31% of current steelmaking capacity uses electric furnaces, but only 28% of capacity under construction will use the technology. “We need to stop investing in coal-based blast furnace equipment and speed up the shift towards electric arc furnace steelmaking,” said the report’s author, Caitlin Swalec.
• The hydrogen solution is also hitting stumbling blocks. “The real roadblock for green steel is simply the availability of low-carbon hydrogen,” says an MHI technology officer.
• “Scaling up this technology will require massive amounts of green or blue hydrogen.”

• The real roadblock for green steel is simply the availability of low-carbon hydrogen. Blue and green hydrogen can help reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions.Image: Gasunie

The path to net zero

• The world’s richest G7 economies can achieve carbon neutrality if governments implement the right policies in the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In a new report, the IEA says G7 economies need to recognize the use of interim technologies that substantially reduce emissionseven if they aren’t considered zero emissions.
• This decade is key to set the tracks to climate neutrality. Especially in sectors where emissions are high but hard-to-abate like steel and cement, we have to fundamentally shift production methods.
• One global initiative working to decarbonize industrial sectors like steel is the World Economic Forum’s First Movers Coalition. At the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos this year, the Coalition announced it had expanded, with 55 companies and nine countries now committed to purchasing a proportion of the industrial materials and transport they need from suppliers using near-zero or zero-carbon solutions.

Promotion of Green Steel

• The emissions from iron and steel sector as reported by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in India’s first, second and third Biennial Update Reports (BURs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the years 2010, 2014 and 2016 were 95.998 million tonnes CO₂, 154.678 million tonnes CO₂and 135.420 million tonnes CO₂, respectively.
• The Ministry of Steel is committed to Net-Zero target by 2070. Towards this, in short term (FY 2030), reduction of carbon emissions in steel industry through promotion of energy and resource efficiency as well as renewable energy is being focused. For the medium term (2030-2047), utilisation of Green Hydrogen and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage are the focus areas. For long term (2047-2070), disruptive alternative technological innovations can help achieve the transition to net-zero. For this purpose, Ministry of Steel is continuously engaging with various stakeholders.

Steps taken for promoting decarbonization in steel industry include:-

1. Steel Scrap Recycling Policy, 2019 enhances the availability of domestically generated scrap to reduce the consumption of coal in steel making.
2. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced National Green Hydrogen Mission for green hydrogen production and usage. The steel sector has also been made a stakeholder in the Mission.
3. Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicles Scrapping Facility) Rules September 2021, shall increase availability of scrap in the steel sector.
4. National Solar Mission launched by MNRE in January 2010 promotes the use of solar energy and also helps reduce the emission of steel industry.
5. Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, under National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, incentivizes steel industry to reduce energy consumption.
6. The steel sector has adopted the Best Available Technologies (BAT) available globally, in the modernization & expansions projects.
7. Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Model Projects for Energy Efficiency Improvement have been implemented in steel plants.

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