India’s plans to double steel production by 2030 could jeopardise its national climate goals and also threaten the key global target to reduce planet-heating gas emissions from the steel industry, according to a report of Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an organisation tracking energy projects across the world.
Efforts to decarbonize steelmaking are gaining traction around the world. However, in India, which is the world’s second largest steel-producing nation, overwhelming reliance on coal-based technologies presents a big challenge, GEM stated.
“India is now the bellwether of global steel decarbonization. If the country does not increase its plans for green steel production, the entire sector will miss an important milestone. So goes India, so goes the world,” said Astrid Grigsby-Schulte, project manager of the Global Iron and Steel Tracker at GEM and report co-author.
Currently, up to 12 percent of India’s greenhouse gas emissions, which go into the atmosphere and heat the planet, come from steelmaking. That number could double in five years if steel is produced in line with the government’s plans, according to the report.
At the same time, India wants to produce 500 gigawatts (GW) of clean power, enough to power nearly 300 million Indian homes, by the end of this decade. It recently crossed the milestone of installing 100 GW of solar power, most of which was installed in the last 10 years.
By 2070, India also aims to go net zero, that is, it will either eliminate all carbon dioxide pollution it emits or cancel it out by using other methods, such as planting trees that absorb carbon.
Steel production is one of the most carbon polluting industries, responsible for nearly nine percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The International Energy Agency has set a target for 38 percent of global steelmaking capacity to rely on lower-emission electric arc furnaces by 2030.
Current projections by GEM show the world reaching just 36 percent, a shortfall largely due to India’s coal-heavy pipeline of steel projects, the report said.