Govt may make ‘green steel’ mandatory to reduce carbon emission: Jyotiraditya Scindia
Union Minister of Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia recently clarify in the Rajya Sabha that the government is considering mandating the use of “green steel” in government projects.
He said emissions from the steel industry have been brought down by 15% between 2005 and 2022 and Centre targets an additional 10% reduction in emissions by 2030. Energy consumption per tonne of steel produced has also come down as well as emission intensity in terms of CO2, he added.
Responding to a question from NCP MP Vandana Chavan on carbon emissions in the steel sector, the minister said the government has put into place a short-term plan, as well as medium and long-term targets to deal with the issue.
“The short-term plan looks at reduction of carbon emissions through energy and resource efficiency in renewable energy. The medium-term plan (2030-47) looks at Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage as well as usage of possibly green hydrogen. And, the long-term plan (2047-70) looks at a complete move over from ore-based and coal-based to much more technological innovations to come down to net zero,” Scindia told the Rajya Sabha.
“The iron and steel sector is projected to grow five times in the next two decades. The steel sector is extremely energy and resource intensive. And, in its present form, it is highly polluting. Today, the production of one tonne of steel means emission of three tonne of carbon dioxide; whereas, globally this is only 1.4 tonne,” said Chavan.
“…our current average emission intensity is 2.55 tonne CO2, per tonne of crude steel, compared to about 1.95 tonne of global average… From 2005 to 2022, we have brought down emissions by almost 15 per cent,” Scindia said.
He further said India has now become the second largest steel producer in the world in the last eight years “doubling our capacity from 150 million to 154 million tonnes worth of production”.