Vedanta to move towards green steel; working on solution for hydrogen use

As part of its plan to shift towards "green steel", a Vedanta group firm has said it is working on a solution to use hydrogen instead of coke in its manufacturing process so as to reduce carbon emissions.

Vedanta's Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business said it is looking for a tie-up with IIT-Bombay to carry out a research for manufacturing pig iron ore using hydrogen in place of coke. The solution is aimed at reducing carbon emission in the production process and will help manufacture green steel (an outcome of a climate-friendly process).

"We have our own vision of going towards the green steel. So my coke ovens will become green coke very soon, where I will be having all the coke-making through a green process, extracting, harnessing... and it will simply float over the grid. I would not require power from the grid, rather I would give power to the grid," Sujal Shah, Deputy CEO, Vedanta's Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business, told PTI in an interview.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of Vedanta earlier committing to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and pledging USD 5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations.

Claiming that green coke will be a realisation soon, Shah said the company is on track to shift towards green steel.

"I am also exploring an option to collaborate with IIT-Bombay for a study on the use of hydrogen in our steel production. That concept is at the nascent stage. There are no examples in the world. So I am working with academia and trying to develop a solution for how to use hydrogen into our steel production, which will ultimately cut down our carbon consumption," Shah explained.

The environmental impact of steel is enormous given its production process is one of the most energy-consuming and CO2-emitting industrial activities in the world. Steel production process involves conversion of iron ore into pig iron (by casting and solidifying molten iron).

Vedenta, Shah said, is going in a "very big way" for reducing its carbon footprint and is working tirelessly in this direction.

He said the company is also working on a pilot project on carbon capture, utilisation and storage mechanism.

The company said that it follows the triple bottom line of 'people, planet and prosperity' to create a sustainable future in a 'zero harm, zero waste and zero discharge' environment for the communities.