STEEL INDUSTRY: HARVESTING THE SUNSHINE
Introduction
Steel is arguably the single most strategically important resource when it comes to constructing our future infrastructure. Steel production dates back to 1800 BC, and the fundamentals of steel production haven’t altered much through the ages.
Industry Overview
Steel production is still a highly energy-intensive process. The vast majority of that energy comes from fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Globally, steel is responsible for about 7-9% of all direct emissions from fossil fuels, with coal burning accounting for the majority of these. While natural gas is used to make steel all around the world, India is the only steel-producing country where coal is the predominant source of energy. This is due to the abundant iron ores in the states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
However, steel produced using coal contributes to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Large scale carbon dioxide emissions from the industry are amongst the most difficult to abate. The steel sector emitted around 220 Mt of CO2 in 2018. Steel industry emissions account for 8% of India’s overall emissions and are regarded hard to abate sector. With the Indian government pledging to reduce CO2 emissions by 33% by 2030, clearly the challenge for the industry is to quickly identify viable alternatives to reduce emissions.
There are a variety of fuel alternatives to coal, which is the industry’s primary source of carbon dioxide emissions. The ones that are most important in terms of reducing carbon dioxide emissions include- Solar Energy.
Energy Management in the Steel Sector
Because energy accounts for 20 to 40% of the cost of steel production, reducing is clearly a goal for most big steel companies. The share of power consumed by the industry is higher than the national average. Most integrated steel factories in India use a lot of energy, averaging 6-6.5 Giga Calorie per tonne of crude steel, compared to 4.5-5.0 in other countries. The higher rate of energy consumption can mainly be attributed to obsolete technologies including problems in retrofitting modern technologies in old plants, old shop floor & operational techniques, low quality of raw material etc.
Steeling for change
Given that the iron and steel sector is the ‘world’s largest industrial source of climate pollution,’ it is under increasing pressure to reduce its energy consumption. Thankfully, nature is generous. It produces a significant amount of energy. India’s vast and inexpensive solar resources put us in a good position to produce the solar energy that the steel sector requires. As a result, capturing the sun’s radiation, converting it, and using it to produce steel with the solar energy rather than coal represent a significant opportunity for India. It would boost our exports, offset job losses in the fossil fuel industry, and contribute significantly to energy transition and climate change mitigation. This revolutionary technology might also help mop up the billions of tons of carbon emissions associated with steel production each year.
The Rationale for Energy
- Firstly, undertaking fuel substitution with solar energy can increase the efficiency with which energy and other inputs are used. It can also assist in generating savings in operating cost and thereby contribute to the competitiveness of the sector.
- Secondly, over the last 30 years, reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become increasingly important on the political agenda. The primary focus and early progress has consistently been in the sectors referred to as “hard-to-abate.”
- Thirdly, If not addressed properly, environmental issues have the potential to hinder future industrial and social progress. Reducing our dependence on traditional energy sources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions through fuel switching are key issues for current and future generations.
- Fourthly, it can lead to enhancements in the manufacturing capabilities for value added steel, thereby leading to increase in total exports.
- Lastly, the energy consumption in steel plants can be drastically reduced because of technological up gradation. Additionally, creating clean steel can generate thousands of long-term jobs in the process.
The Road Ahead
There is an abundance of sunlight in nature. As a result, India’s reliance on coal, natural gas, and petroleum products as energy sources would be reduced by switching to solar energy. In the long run, the transition would be beneficial since it might play a big role in other sectors such as transportation, process industry, agriculture, and long-term energy storage, making economies of scale easier to attain.
With huge investments in solar pushing the adoption of new energy sources, India’s renewable energy sector is poised for a boost, and steel is at the centre of this expansion. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recommended solar energy as the energy source of the future, projecting that solar will be the world’s primary source by 2050. The moment has come for steel enterprises to plan for the adoption of solar technologies which is clearly key to Earth’s low-carbon future.