Syed Munir Khasru

Opinion | Steel industry forging new identity as champion of sustainability

The efforts of the steel industry show that even the most traditional sectors can adapt and thrive in a low-carbon economy

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An employee prepares to move a steel bar in the ArcVac ForgeCast factory in West Bengal, India, on April 26. Many producers are shifting to electric arc furnaces, which can use up to 100 per cent scrap metal, unlike traditional blast furnaces. Photo: Reuters

Syed Munir Khasru

Published: 4:30pm, 14 Aug 2024

Amid the clanging of hammers and the glow of molten metal, an unexpected environmental revolution is taking shape. The steel industry, long perceived as a climate villain, is forging a new identity as a champion in the fight against global warming.

This transformation isn’t just reshaping an age-old industry, it’s redefining our understanding of how even the most carbon-intensive sectors can pivot towards a sustainable future.

Steel is fundamental to modern civilisation, used in everything from skyscrapers to smartphones. But traditional production is carbon-intensive. As the world grapples with the urgent need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, the transformation of the steel sector, which accounts for about 7-9 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions from the use of fossil fuels, is crucial.

Among the technologies driving this change in the steel industry, one of the most promising is hydrogen-based production. Several leading steel companies are pioneering hydrogen as a reducing agent, in place of coal.

Sweden’s SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall have developed HYBRIT (hydrogen breakthrough ironmaking technology) and aim to produce steel free of fossil fuel by 2026. This process replaces coking coal with hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, potentially reducing Sweden’s carbon emissions by 10 per cent.

Austrian steel giant Voestalpine, another pioneer of hydrogen use, operates one the world’s largest pilot plants to produce hydrogen from renewable electricity. Through using more green hydrogen, it aims to cut its CO2 emissions from steel production by over 80 per cent by 2050.