Green Pathways for the Steel Industry

The Indian steel industry received a major green boost.

The Ministry of Steel has released a roadmap and action plan to boost India’s green steel sector.

Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries, Mr H. D. Kumaraswamy, presented a report titled “Greening the Steel Sector in India: Roadmap and Action Plan” at the “Greening Steel: Pathway to Sustainability” event.

Ms. Neha Verma, Director, Ministry of Steel, released the report.

The report, based on recommendations from 14 task forces outlines a comprehensive plan for decarbonizing India’s steel industry. It also addresses several aspects of carbon emissions.

Key levers:

The Ministry is committed to implementing strategies and action plans outlined in the report to reduce carbon emissions. This is in line with India’s NDC commitments. The key levers of decarbonization include:

Technological innovations: Latest advancements in technology and practices that can aid in reducing emissions.

Policy frameworks: Exploring existing policies and discussion on potential policy enhancements to support decarbonization.

Future outlook: Vision for a sustainable steel industry and the role of various stakeholders in achieving these goals.

Roadmap and action plan: Strategies and interventions required from the Government as well as industry players.

The discussion board:

Former steel secretary Mr Sanjay Singh chaired a technical session on “Leadership and Innovation: Driving the Green Steel Transition.” He emphasized the importance of inventiveness and visionary leadership in sustainable steel production.

The panel comprised Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj, Project Director, Niti Aayog, Mr Abhay Bakre, Mission Director, NGHM, Mr Arvind K. Singh, Director, Technical, SAIL, Dr. Saurabh Kundu, CSO, Tata Steel, Mr Prabodha Acharya, CSO, JSW, and Mr Vaibhav Pokharna, Senior Lead, Sustainability, AM/NS India. Dhruba Purkayastha, Director, CEEW moderated the session.

Decarbonizing the steel industry:

In his introductory address, Mr Vinod K. Tripathi, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Steel, talked about the difficulties in lowering carbon emissions.

He stressed the need to initiate decarbonization, highlighting the ongoing development of technology. He also emphasized the necessity of increasing demand for green steel in order to persuade steel manufacturers to switch to sustainable production methods.

Earlier in the day, Mr Kumaraswamy presented awards to task force chairpersons in recognition of their efforts.

He highlighted the necessity of increasing demand for green steel. He spoke about the need to persuade steel manufacturers to switch to sustainable production methods. He urged the industry to adopt multifaceted strategy of cleaner energy options, process optimization, circular economy and collaborative innovation for achieving climate goals.

Among the dignitaries were Mr Amrendu Prakash, Chairman, SAIL, and Mr N. N. Sinha, former Secretary, Steel. Both offered insightful commentary on the green transformation of the Indian steel industry.

Tata Steel has launched a carbon bank.

The carbon bank will be a virtual repository through which carbon dioxide will become a value-creating asset for future usage.

It is aimed at measuring and managing carbon dioxide savings generated from various sustainability projects, Tata Steel said in a statement.

These savings not only contribute to environmental goals but also hold the potential for generating revenue that can be reinvested into further decarbonization efforts, the company said.

Initially, Tata Steel has identified decarbonization projects that can reduce CO2 emissions in one or more production processes.

The carbon savings from these projects are monitored by an independent auditor, who verifies the company’s CO2 savings claims following the appropriate ISO system. Upon verification, a carbon savings certificate is issued by the auditor and virtually deposited in the carbon bank.

CO2 is widely recognized as a harmful substance emitted due to the use of various fossil fuels in industry and transportation.

The steel industry, in particular, often relies on coal and other fossil fuels in its production line, resulting in the release of large quantities
of CO2.

Rajiv Mangal, Vice President, Safety, Health & Sustainability, Tata Steel, said, “In the face of mounting global concerns about sustainability, Tata Steel has taken proactive steps to spearhead carbon abatement initiatives as part of its unwavering commitment to sustainability across environmental, societal, and business domains. The carbon bank is one such tangible commitment to driving sustainability within the organization.”

ArcelorMittal has selected three start-ups as the joint winners of its inaugural XCarb India Accelerator Program.

The three winners are UrjanovaC, AgroMorph Technosolutions and Susstains Engineering Solutions. Each company will receive $50,000 as prize money and will be mentored to develop technologies and business models.

The winners:

UrjanovaC :
The enterprise is developing a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology to support the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors including steel. The technology uses a patented catalyst and wastewater to convert industrial CO2 emissions from flue gas into useful by-products like PCC and soda ash. These applications are applicable in various industries.

Prof. Vikram Vishal, Director & Co-Founder, UrjanovaC, said, “Our sustainable, practical, low-cost, and scalable decarbonization technology based on a patented catalytic process captures CO2 from air as well as emission gases and stores it permanently as carbonate salts. The team at UrjanovaC envisions translating net-zero pledges into reality through rapid deployment and is thrilled about the upcoming partnerships across borders and sectors.”

AgroMorph TechnoSolutions:
The company is creating a modular, algae-based CCUS system designed to remove carbon from industrial flue gases and absorb nutrients from wastewater. The process provides a sustainable method for carbon capture through natural photosynthesis, reducing the use of chemicals and providing a diverse range of nutrient-rich algae-based products.

Dr. Akanksha Agarwal, Founding Director, AgroMorph Technosolutions, said, “The program offered a great opportunity for AgroMorph as it helped us explore decarbonization challenges via algae. It provided in-depth understanding and perspectives of the steel industry, which is a great value-add for start-ups.”

Susstains Engineering Solutions:
The start-up founded by IIT Madras PhD students, is developing biochar technology for the steel industry. The technology utilizes biomass carbonization methods to enhance the yield, productivity, and quality of biochar produced.

Dr. Muthu Kumar, Founder, Susstains Engineering Solutions, added, “The program was a great opportunity, as it helped us understand the potential use of biochar in the steel industry. The AM/NS India facility’s testing of biochar samples provided confidence that with fine-tuning, our biochar could potentially replace coal.”

Partners:

GDC-IIT Madras, and SINE-IIT Bombay partnered with ArcelorMittal for the program.

Irina Gorbounova, Head, XCarb Innovation Fund, said, “The last 11 months provided us great insight into the start-up landscape of India and the opportunities it presents. It was a pleasure collaborating with IIT Madras and we look forward to continued engagement them.”

The JSW Group has joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Mr. Seshagiri Rao, Joint Managing Director and Group CFO will represent the JSW Group at the council which has more than 200 companies as members.

He will also take part in the WBCSD CFO network, which is driving ESG performance within companies, and effective disclosure to capital markets, the company said in a press release.

“The JSW Group is joining WBCSD at an important time when expectations of business have never been higher,” said Joe Phelan, India Director, WBCSD. “It is a major player in the global steel industry, which is critical to climate action, as well as in energy, infrastructure, and more. We look forward to providing opportunities for them to increase and accelerate the role they play in a sustainable world.”

Peter Bakker, President and CEO, WBCSD, said, “Only collaboration at unprecedented levels will create the impact and scale of transformations that are required for more than 9 billion people to live well, within planetary boundaries, by mid-century – as laid out in Vision 2050: Time to Transform.”

It must be noted that the $22 billion multinational conglomerate headquartered in India, has set ambitious sustainability targets. For example, JSW Steel has set a target of reducing its CO2 emissions by 42% by FY2030, aligning its target with the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) of International Energy Agency (IEA). JSW Energy has committed to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The steel industry in India is tapping a new energy-efficient carbon dioxide capture technology to promote a circular economy.

The capture and conversion of emitted CO2 into CO can lead to a circular economy, reducing the carbon footprint and associated costs

The technology converts CO2 to CO, under electro catalytic conditions under ambient temperatures in the presence of water.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a widely used chemical in the industry especially in the form of syn gas. In the steel industry, CO is an essential ingredient for converting iron ores to metallic iron in blast furnaces. IIT Bombay’s National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCoE-CCU) developed a process that generates CO2 through partial oxidation of coke/coal.

The process:

The CO2 to CO conversion process commonly occurs at elevated temperatures (400-750°C). This requires an equal amount of H2 to accelerate, making it an energy-intensive process.

NCoE-CCU’s electrocatalysis process requires minimal energy and can operate under ambient temperatures. It utilizes renewable energy sources like solar panels or windmills for a carbon-neutral CO2 to CO conversion.

Applications:

With potential applications in the steel industry, this technology is being actively pursued for scaling up through the recently established start-up UrjanovaC Private Limited. The company has also obtained license to use an alternative CO2 capture and conversion technology developed by NCoE-CCU with DST support and incubation at IIT Bombay.

This work is an effort to support India’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2070. The NCoE-CCU is focusing on developing innovative, scalable, and cost-effective methods for capturing CO2 from various emission sources for greenhouse gas mitigation. The idea is to convert it into useable chemicals or permanent storage.

Researchers led by Dr. Arnab Dutta and Vikram Vishal have been granted a patent for CO2 to CO conversion technology. The innovation is also set to be published in an international publication named, Nature Communications.

The Indian steel industry has been making significant progress toward sustainability

Tag: steel industry

News

Green Pathways for the Steel Industry
WriteCanvas News

Key levers:

The discussion board:

Decarbonizing the steel industry:

News

Tata Steel Launches Carbon Bank
WriteCanvas News