Energy transition is a major leveller in the drive towards Net Zero
The global stainless-steel products industry is facing an extraordinary challenge: To reduce our carbon footprint and achieve a net-zero carbon industry. Post COP26, many stainless steels segment industry leaders have come forth with action plans to decarbonize their business and create a platform for Green Steel.
But how far can individual efforts impact climate change? So, the question is, what can be a cumulative effort by industry to accelerate its drive towards net zero?
The first step is to create demand
The overall stainless-steel segment is amongst the top five emission-intensive sectors. While the terms green steel and net zero have been trending a lot due to social media, the understanding is limited, and the primary hiccup is that the transition towards green steel is cost and labour-intensive with less demand.
As a manufacturer of stainless-steel products exported across the globe, I understand that the need of the hour is to create a demand for green steel, especially in developing markets, to grab the interest of all big and small enterprises. An increased demand will directly influence profitability, thus encouraging even small-time manufacturers to invest in decarbonising their manufacturing process and reducing their GHG emissions.
Policy level changes to align industry and governance for climate-positive change
Many changes are happening at the policy level in different countries and with every passing year they are constantly upgrading their regulations and turning towards pro-climate policies. The EU norms from 2016 are a landmark in the steps taken against GHG emissions and climate change. The steel and stainless-steel sector is one of the hard-to-abate segments and yet many have raised their bar by planning and committing to an action plan for achieving Net Zero.
Policies influence various stakeholders like manufacturers, buyers, technology providers, and even government bodies to align with the regulations and create the urgency for a comprehensive roadmap to mitigate GHG emissions. Policy level changes like subsidies to stainless steel industries using renewable energy and reducing GHG emissions can help in reducing manufacturing costs and lead to an increase in demand for green steel.
This step can lead to transition towards green steel and keep a holistic focus on social, governance and environmental concerns vis-a-vis business, thereby creating an ecosystem for joint effort towards achieving decarbonisation goals.
Integrated efforts along the value chain
No industry or business can achieve Net Zero goals alone. The focus must be on the cumulative reduction of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions along with a positive influence on Scope 3 emissions. The essential step towards any transition or change is to create awareness throughout the entire value chain starting from raw material supplier to the end customer.
A systematic collaboration will result in better aligning and upgrading business strategies and sectoral policies, influencing all stakeholders to find benefits in ensuring the continuation of green initiatives for the sector to achieve decarbonisation targets.
Chairman & Managing Director
Viraj Profiles Pvt. Ltd.
Innovation in technology to drive clean energy transitions
Energy transition is a major leveller in the drive towards Net Zero, especially for the stainless-steel product sector. Scaling up technology and innovation to create a smooth transition towards renewable energy or alternate forms of fuel like hydrogen or biodiesel is possible with continuous synchronized efforts towards energy efficiency of the sector and its ancillaries.
At Viraj, we have signed up with Avaada Group to set up a 100MW solar power plant with the aim to switch 50% of our energy resources to renewable by March 2024.
Overall, when the entire industry works towards reducing the shared carbon footprint, net zero will not be a distant dream.
