Steel Ministry approves 13 task forces for ‘Green Steel’
Recently, the Ministry of Steel has approved the formation of 13 task forces for Green Steel.
- Task forces have been set up to deliberate on different aspects of green steel production and prepare action points.
- Green steel refers to the production of steel without relying on fossil fuels.
- Traditional coal-fired plants are replaced by alternative low-carbon energy sources such as hydrogen, coal gasification or electricity.
- As a result, there is less emission of green house gases, the cost of production is reduced and the quality of steel is also improved.
- Using low-carbon hydrogen, including blue and green hydrogen, can reduce the carbon footprint of the steel industry.
Steel production in India
- India is the second largest steel producing country in the world. The country had produced 120 million tonnes (MT) of steel during the financial year 2021-2022.
- In the year 2021, India was the second largest steel consumer country in the world after China.
- The important steel producing centers of the country are Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Durgapur and Burnpur (West Bengal), Jamshedpur and Bokaro (Jharkhand) and Rourkela (Odisha).
Steps taken to promote decarbonization in steel industry –
- Steel Scrap Recycling Policy, 2019 has been released. It enhances the availability of domestically generated steel scrap. This leads to less use of coal in steel production.
- The Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functioning of Vehicle Scrapping Facilities) Rules, 2021 enhance the availability of scrap in the steel sector.
- The Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme encourages the steel industry to reduce energy consumption.
Source – The Hindu
