Page 7 - AsiaElec Week 22 2021

AsiaElec POLICY AsiaElec

India, UK launch steel and cement

decarbonisation efforts

INDIA INDIA and the UK have led the launch of the particularly those in emerging economies, are
Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative set to benefit from this initiative.
(IDDI) in a bid to reduce the global appetite for Companies such as India’s Tata Steel are
carbon-intensive steel and cement. already piloting new processes for the produc-
The initiative, co-ordinated by the United tion of decarbonised steel, which is promising
Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s enormous efficiency gains.
(UNIDO) Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Sec- “India’s commitment to cut emissions inten-
retariat, aims to create new market demand for sity per unit of GDP by 33% to 35% by 2030
low-carbon steel and cement. significantly hinges on effective deployment of
Steel and cement manufacturing have so low-carbon technologies in energy-intensive
far proved difficult to decarbonise, and at pres- sectors like iron and steel, cement and petro-
ent account for 7-8% of global energy-related chemicals,” explained Alok Kumar, India’s Sec-
emissions. retary of Power.
The need for continuous, high-temperature Joining the UK and India in the initiative are
heat to produce these construction products Germany, Canada and the UAE.
requires large amounts of energy, a lot of which “We need a new clean industrial revolution,”
is still derived from fossil fuels. said Dan Dorner, the head of the CEM. “This
To date steel and cement – which each rep- new global coalition will enable bold action that
resent around 7-8% of energy-related emissions helps unleash the huge opportunities from trans-
globally – have remained out of reach in the pur- forming our heavy industrial sectors,” he said. “I
suit to mitigate carbon emissions. am very proud to see the launch of this new CEM
“Through this initiative, UNIDO will work initiative to decarbonise heavy industry and very
with governments worldwide to agree on a grateful to the governments of India and the UK,
global 2050 vision for the decarbonisation of the and our partner UNIDO, for their leadership.”
steel and cement industries, with ambitious tar- Steel and cement offer potential to reduce
gets informed by collective stakeholder inputs,” emissions in a major way.
said UNIDO Director-General Li Yong. The IDDI said that since more than 80% of
While there is still a way to go before clearly cement and 90% of steel is produced in less than
defined low-carbon steel and cement is available 20 countries in each case, the adoption of green
in the market at scale, green public procurement public procurement commitments, even in a
commitments are essential in signalling that limited number of countries, can help to achieve
demand exists. the majority of the GHG emissions reduction
For example, public procurement accounts potential.
for 46% of cement consumption in the US, mak- Also, by focusing on steel and cement used in
ing it a colossal purchasing power in creating a publicly financed construction projects, the ini-
market for lower-emission materials. The same tiative can target emissions in the most effective
can be said for nations in the European Union way.
and for many emerging industrial economies. The IDDI said that, assuming around 40% of
Changes to procurement rules will be the key cement is used for public construction globally,
way to decarbonise the steel and cement sectors. green public procurement with 10%, 30% or 50%
Within the next three years, the IDDI expects reduction targets in cement CO2 intensity can
to have encouraged a minimum of 10 national result in annual CO2 emissions reductions of 93,
governments, and a number of municipalities, 280 and 470mn tonnes of CO2 respectively.
to make public procurement commitments for Assuming around 25% of steel is used for
low-carbon steel and cement. public construction globally, GPP with a 10%,
The first government commitments to pro- a 30% or a 50% reduction target in steel CO2
cure low-carbon steel and cement are expected intensity can result in annual CO2 emissions
to be announced at the COP26 talks in Glasgow reductions of 90, 270 and 450mn tonnes of CO2
in December. respectively.™
Major construction manufacturers,

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