Hydrogen’s Role in Slashing CO2 Emissions

Hydrogen to play a major role in decarbonizing steel industry, a significant contributor to global emissions; major progress made in EU.

Here’s an article posted in Visual Capitalist that talks about Hydrogen’s role in slashing global emissions.

According to the article,

• The steel industry is a significant contributor to global emissions, accounting for 6.1% of global emissions.
• Green steel production is crucial for reducing emissions and transitioning to a more sustainable future.
• Hydrogen plays a key role in replacing fossil fuels and supporting green steel production.

To accelerate decarbonizing the steel industry with hydrogen, several steps such as the following are advised by experts to be taken:

1. Introduce CO2 Pricing and Rapid Development of Hydrogen:
   • Encourage investments in low-carbon technologies and accelerate adoption of hydrogen-based steel-making through CO2 pricing.
   • A carbon price of $50 per tonne of emissions can make green steel competitive by 2030, even at a hydrogen price of $2/kg.
2. Policies for Material Efficiency:
   • Implement policies incentivizing scrap collection and recycling to scale up domestic scrap-based steel-making.
   • Set up dismantling, collection, and processing centers to support the growth of scrap-based steel production.
3. Encourage Green Steel Consumption in End-Use:
   • Set targets for embodied carbon in public and private construction and automotive uses to support the creation of a domestic green steel market.
   • International regulations, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), can provide further impetus to the private sector to accelerate the transition to green steel.
4. Invest in Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS):
   • Invest in CCUS technology to make it a viable decarbonisation solution for the steel industry, despite its high costs.
5. Hydrogen-Based Steel Production:
   • Develop large-scale, renewable-powered electrolysis infrastructure to produce green hydrogen.
   • Implement hydrogen-based Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) production to reduce emissions.
6. Blending Grey and Green Hydrogen:
   • Blend grey hydrogen with green hydrogen to accelerate the transition to green hydrogen-based steel production, especially in India.
7. Supporting Infrastructure:
   • Develop infrastructure for the storage, production, and transportation of hydrogen.
   • Establish a support network for the production, storage, and transportation of hydrogen.
8. Research and Development (R&D) and Innovations:
   • Increase investments in R&D and innovations by steelmakers to develop more efficient and cost-effective green steel production methods.
9. Scaling Up Net-Zero Technologies:
   • Invest in technologies that can reduce emissions, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) plants.
   • Develop supporting infrastructure for CCS, including geological storage sites and data on their capacities.
10. Government Support:
    • Governments can provide incentives and support for the transition to green steel production, such as subsidies for renewable energy and green hydrogen production.

By taking these steps, the steel industry can accelerate its transition to a more sustainable and decarbonized future using hydrogen-based production methods.

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