Centre directs Steel industry to draw action plan to reduce carbon emissions

In accordance with the Central government's COP26 commitments, the Ministry of Steel has directed the stakeholders to develop a time-bound action plan to reduce carbon emissions in the steel industry.

According to the ministry, the iron and steel industry globally accounts for around 8% of total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on an annual basis, whereas India contributes 12% to the total CO2 emissions. 

Therefore, the Indian steel industry needs to reduce its emissions substantially to fulfull the commitments made at the COP26 climate change conference.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India will meet a target of net zero emissions by 2070 at the COP26 global climate summit in November 2021.

In a recently held meeting, Union Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh urged the stakeholders to develop a time-bound action plan and make concerted efforts for minimizing the emissions from the steel industry in line with the commitments made by the Central Government at COP26.

The present scenario, the way forward for promoting the transition towards green steel, various strategies and technologies that can be adopted by the steel industry to produce green steel, and technology readiness levels, were the issues discussed at the meeting.

The use of green hydrogen in producing iron and the use of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies for lowering emissions were also discussed at the meeting. 

The ministry said R&D project proposals have been in joint collaborative mode from reputed academic institutions, research laboratories and steel companies for the development of new alternate processes and technologies to address the issues faced by the sector and it is also providing financial assistance under the R&D Scheme for the Financial Year 2022-23".

Meanwhile, India has over-achieved the 2022 targets for renewable energy. In less than 8 years, solar capacity has increased from around 2.6 GW to more than 46 GW. This has contributed in taking India to the 4th position globally for overall installed renewable energy capacity.

In this year's budget, around 2.5 billion USD has been announced just for high-efficiency solar module manufacturing. There is also a huge market for solar stoves, which is necessary for India's clean-cooking movement.

Indian start-ups have been instrumental in carrying forward the country's solar ambitions. Architects and builders are also urged to work on the concept of solar trees in the construction of houses that could cater to 10-20 per cent of the household's electricity needs.

Efforts have also been made to make solar power more accessible. Solar power tariff has been reduced by more than 75 per cent using plug and play model, and a record low solar tariff of less than 3 cents per unit has been achieved. 

"Along with energy production, energy storage and energy conservation are also important for sustainability; and we need to work together to find solutions to these issues," Indian Permanent Representative to UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti stressed while co-hosting a virtual event with Olof Skoog, Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to the United Nations.

The Ambassador noted that the International Solar Alliance was conceived as a joint effort by India and France and last year in December, a resolution conferring Observer Status to the International Solar Alliance was adopted at the UN.

He said that at COP26 in Glasgow, the Prime Ministers of India and the United Kingdom launched the transnational grid initiative - the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) which is the first international network of global interconnected solar power grid.