Say it ain't so, Jai!
India, last hope for metallurgical coal, says "Acha, Bye" to obsolete blast furnaces. World's second-biggest steel maker quits carbon, killing only remaining market for Grassy Mountain's crappy coal.
India’s Wootz steel was the finest alloy of early metallurgy. Now India aims to be a world leader in green, coal-free steel. Too bad, so sad, Grassy Mountain.
After the world’s biggest steel maker, China, stopped making new coal-fueled blast furnaces at the start of 2024, the next biggest, India, announced in September that it too would phase out the use of metallurgical coal.
Here are a couple of excerpts from the Indian government’s green steel plan:
“India aims to become a global leader in green steel production and consumption through the adoption of clean energy and advanced technologies and by promoting a circular economy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.”
“Transitioning to alternate fuels is another critical strategy for the medium term. In this regard, natural gas has a big role to play as it is a bridge fuel to green hydrogen and has significantly lower carbon emissions compared to coal-based production processes.”