A green revolution in the Australian steel industry

Australia can benefit from an abundance of cheap wind and solar power to stem decades of recession in its steel industry.

By leveraging the nation's iron ore resources and using hydrogen generated from renewable energy, Australia could capture about 6.5% of the global steel market, generate $ 43 billion in annual export revenue and create tens of thousands of industrial jobs, Grattan said in a statement. Institute think tank on Monday. The so-called green steel would also reduce the need for metallurgical coal pollution.

“Climate change is a tough conundrum for Australia,” the report says. “It is a threat to our health, as well as to agriculture and tourism, but tens of thousands of Australians work in industries that use fossil fuels. This practical plan can be a win-win. "

The technology is still in its infancy, and efforts to make it a commercial reality are most advanced in Europe, where politicians are quickly tightening the nuts on industry to reduce pollution. Industrial gas producer Air Liquide SA, steel company ThyssenKrupp AG and major oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc have some of the brightest demonstration projects.

The Australian steel industry has long been in decline. According to the World Steel Association, it currently ranks only 26th in terms of production with an annual production of around 5.7 million tonnes. China, the largest producer, produced nearly 1 billion tonnes in 2019, more than half of the global volume.

Efforts to reanimate the sector have focused on finding cheaper energy sources. The Sanjeev Gupta GFG Alliance acquired the Whyalla steel mill in South Australia in 2017 after the owner of Arrium took over and outlined plans to use solar power, hydropower and battery power to cope with rising energy costs.

“Australia's vast wind and solar energy resources mean we can produce hydrogen, and therefore green steel, cheaper than countries like Japan, Korea and Indonesia,” the Grattan report said. It would also create jobs in regions currently dominated by coal and other carbon intensive industries, where livelihoods are threatened by the global effort to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.