Green Steel - The Future Of Steel Industry
by Prerna
Posted on March 12, 2022 at 12:05 PM
Introduction
Viable green steel production may be more than a decade away, despite the fact that several of the world's largest steelmakers are already actively developing plans to adopt the process in order to achieve carbon neutrality. As the technology required to handle and transport liquefied hydrogen is still in its infancy. Commercialization will begin in Chubu, Japan, around 2030, when a report backed by Nippon Steel estimates hydrogen demand will reach 110,000 mt/year, coinciding with the International Energy Agency's 2030 projection.
Green steel, or carbon-neutral steel, would be manufactured using green hydrogen generated from renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels, either as a substitute for pulverized coal injection, or PCI, or as a reductant in the production of direct reduced iron, or DRI. According to the International Energy Agency, DRI based entirely on hydrogen produced via electrolysis will be available as early as 2030.
A more straightforward process would be to use electric arc furnaces, provided the energy comes from a renewable source such as the sun or hydrogen fuel cells, but this is constrained by the availability of ferrous scrap. As a result, green steel production will be dependent on commercially viable technologies and infrastructure for producing and handling green hydrogen. Additionally, such infrastructure would require hydrogen vessels for transportation and storage. Liquefied hydrogen, or LH2, must be maintained at a stable minus 253 degrees Celsius, just 20 degrees Celsius above the atom-stopping minus 273 degrees Celsius, also called absolute zero. This is significantly colder than LNG, which must be maintained at minus 163 degrees Celsius, and as a result, existing LNG equipment may not be interchangeable with hydrogen.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan constructed the Kobe LH2 Terminal (Hy touch Kobe) and the Suiso (hydrogen) Frontier LH2 vessel in December 2020 as part of a 12-month pilot project by the Association for CO2-free Hydrogen Energy Supply-chain Technology Research, or HySTRA to establish a hydrogen supply chain between Japan and Australia. However, this will utilise grey hydrogen, which was first produced in early February from coal in southeastern Australia's Latrobe Valley.
There are a lot of things about green ironmaking that are interesting, they are still in the development stage, which will last through the 2020s and 2030s before commercialization in the 2040s," BlueScope Steel CEO Mark Vassella said on Feb. 23. According to Australia's Bluescope, the cost of hydrogen generated through renewable energy is approximately six times that of natural gas. BHP has divested, or is in the process of divesting, thermal and lower-quality met coal assets as part of its decarbonization efforts, while Rio Tinto has already exited the coal business. Investment in met coal is dwindling as a result of investor aversion, new steel making technology advancements, and carbon neutral targets.
Zero Carbon Goals: Green Steel
Rio Tinto and BHP have also signed memorandums of understanding with Asian steelmakers such as Japan's Nippon Steel and South Korea's JFE Steel to develop steelmaking processes that reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. On Feb. 19, Nippon Steel released a report titled "Summary of Activities for Hydrogen Utilization in Chubu in 2030" that excluded the steel sector from the scope of major Chubu end-users such as electricity generation and petro-refining/petrochemical manufacturing, citing "technological developments...expected to occur after 2030."
According to the findings, if hydrogen were priced at Yen 30 [28 cents] per normal cubic metre, or Nm3, in 2030, the negative price spread to switchable costs would be Yen 20 billion per year. Among other green steel agreements, China Baowu Steel Group Corp. signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with BHP in November 2020 to develop low-carbon integrated steelmaking technologies. On Dec. 16, China released a draft of stricter iron and steel capacity replacement measures, including the development of electric arc furnaces and other low-emission steel making facilities, with the goal of assisting China in reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. Additional information is expected to be released during the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which begins March 4, and the 13th National People's Congress, which begins March 5. Posco, a steelmaker in South Korea, plans to decarbonize its steelmaking by 2050 by substituting green hydrogen for coal, estimating that it will require 3.7 million mt/year. Additionally, it intends to become a significant producer and supplier of hydrogen, producing 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen by 2050. To accomplish these goals, the steelmaker announced March 2 that it will invest Won 10 billion in hydrogen-based steelmaking. India intends to launch a green hydrogen energy mission, which could accelerate the decarbonization of its domestic steel industry and create new opportunities, particularly for green steel. "The rate of development of low-carbon hydrogen is highly dependent on policy and regulatory support.To ensure a hydrogen-powered future, policymakers must establish regulatory certainty that mitigates the risk associated with investing in clean hydrogen production, infrastructure, and applications. Historically, the majority of investment in low-carbon hydrogen has occurred in regions such as Western Europe and Australia, where policymakers have pursued aggressive targets and support mechanisms "S&P Global Platts Analytics senior analyst of transportation technology, policy, and technology and scenario development, Zane Mcdonald, stated.
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