An Australia-India partnership took a step closer to green steel through a “world-first” use of agricultural waste in steelmaking during a successful commercial-scale trial in India. Researchers from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) demonstrated a viable approach to cut emissions by partially replacing coal with locally sourced rice husk pellets.
The breakthrough offers a scalable pathway to decarbonise one of the world’s fastest-growing industrial economies in a sector currently responsible for approximately one-tenth of global carbon emissions. “Using locally sourced rice husk pellets, the CSIRO team validated sustained production of biomass-derived syngas (synthesis gas) for iron ore reduction at a large-scale commercial steelworks in India, in partnership with commercial steel innovator RESCONS Solutions Pvt., a commercial steel entity incubated at the Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID), IISc,” CSIRO said in a release.
Professor Govind S. Gupta, Managing Director, RESCONS Solutions, said, “At RESCONS Solutions, we believe in environmentally sustainable solutions that benefit present and future generations. Collaborating with CSIRO and IISc, we are proud to help pioneer the use of biomass in steelmaking, supporting India’s transition to greener industrial practices.”
