Page 19 - Steel Tech India eMagazine Volume January 2023

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Transition towards Low Carbon Steel Industry:

A Brief Overview of Options, Enablers and

Barriers

S. Mitra Mazumder, P. Banerjee
RDCIS, SAIL, Ranchi, INDIA

Abstract enhancing recycling of steel and its by-products and

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globally is expected to come from India and therefore pathway there are groups of technological approaches.
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decarbonization of steel industry. Globally, the route
of transition towards low carbon steel is currently
under discussion and exploration stage. The paper
provides a brief overview of the directions and
dimensions of addressing the issue.

Introduction
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is expected to come from India. India is already the
world’s second-largest steel-producing country and, as
noted by International Energy Agency, is expected to
increase its annual production volumes by 2050 by an
amount equivalent to twice that of the European Union’s
total production in 2019. This near certainty is primarily Fig. 1: Transition pathways toward low carbon steelmaking
because of three factors – consistent GDP growth, [Source: EUROFER-European Steel Association document]
competitiveness supported by economic reforms and
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to driven by Indian steel industry. H[LVWLQJ LURQPDNLQJ VWHHOPDNLQJ SURFHVVHV EDVHG
Possible Low Carbon technological pathways on fossil fuels that would help reduce the use of
carbon in, and thus the CO emissions of, a plant.
There are two main technological pathways for low 2
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2
in addition to continual measures towards circular which includes all the options for using the steel plant
economy. These are Smart Carbon Usage (SCU) and gases or fumes as raw materials for the production
Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA). of, or integration into, valuable products.
Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA) includes:
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substantially reduce the use of the carbon compared to ‡ +\GURJHQ EDVHG PHWDOOXUJ\ ZKLFK XVHV K\GURJHQ
the current means of steel production or seek to avoid to replace carbon as the main reduction agent for
carbon emissions entirely. These are in addition to the iron ore reduction stage. This hydrogen could be
conventional approaches towards circular economy like produced using renewable energy.

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