Steel producers cautioned on carbon emission

The three-day international seminar which concluded here on Thursday warned steel producers against the outcome of carbon emissions in the wake of expansion of steel plants in the country to produce 200 million tonnes steel by 2020.

Steel Authority of India's (SAIL), Director (Personnel), G Ojha stressed the need for clean development mechanism for reduction of carbon emissions from the production of steel to the extent of 200 million tonnes within the next decade.

Ojha said that 10 per cent of green house gas emitted by iron and steel industry which had to be controlled through technology.

State-owned Heavy Engineering Corporation's (HEC) Chairman and Managing Director, GK Pillai who was the chief guest in the seminar, said that India's coal deposit would vanish as the country's core sector was mainly dependent on coal. The country needed innovation of new technology to enable the industries to be environment-friendly.

Pillai said that engineering students would have benefited if the organisers of the seminars invited them in groups to attend.

Executive Director, Research & Development Centre for Iron & Steel of SAIL, Aditya Swaroop Mathur said, "With globalisation and significant changes in economic scenario, steel producers have to meet increased energy efficiency and mitigate environmental impact by adopting clean and energy efficient technologies."

Executive Director, Centre for Engineering & Technology (CET) of SAIL, HK Jain said that the steel major had already adopted some new technologies in the ongoing modernisation and expansion programmes in its steel plants.