Steel Industry and Climate Change

Abstract

The carbon dioxide emission from steel plants has been recognized as an important concern globally. In the past two decades steel industry has reduced CO2 emission by 15-20% by adopting newer technologies and improvement in processes. Further reduction by 15-20% is expected in next decade by implementation of newly developed techniques and controls. Drastic reduction CO2 emission is only possible by adoption of technologies like plasma heating, CO2 recovery, BF and CO gas injection in Blast Furnaces and use of hydrogen on commercial scale in iron ore smelting. Increased use of recyled steel will also play an important role. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for steel products to improve product quality and strength including weight of product will enhance consumer confidence besides reducing the environmental burden. Further reduction of CO2 in the steel plant globally can come only through adopting flexi-ble mechanisms and CO2 trading. This paper describes present scenario, technologies in practice, trends and drivers and flexible mechanisms to reduce CO2 emission in steel industry. The paper also presents the scenario at Tata Steel and various actions initiated to address the issues related to energy conse-rvation and reduction in CO2 emission.