A world-first trial in India has successfully demonstrated a viable approach to cut emissions from steelmaking by partially replacing coal with agricultural waste.
The breakthrough offers a scalable pathway to cut emissions in one of the world's fastest growing industrial economies and takes the industry a step closer to green steel.
Researchers from Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have proven the approach can work at commercial scale, marking a major advance in efforts to decarbonise iron and steelmaking in a sector responsible for around 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.
India's steel sector is the fastest-growing globally, projected to double its capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030 and reach 500 million tonnes by 2047. This rapid expansion poses a major challenge for global emissions, with India's steel production emitting an average of 2.55 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of steel; well above the global average. The sector is responsible for around 12 per cent of India's total emissions, largely due to a reliance on coal-based processes and an extensive fleet of small-scale rotary kiln-based direct reduced iron (DRI) production.
To address these challenges, the Indian Ministry of Steel has outlined a roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2070, including strategies such as transitioning to electric arc furnaces, increasing scrap use, carbon capture and storage, green hydrogen and, crucially, using biomass as a replacement for coal.
Leveraging India's abundant agricultural waste, the CSIRO-led team, with funding from the Australian Government's India-Australia Green Steel Research Partnership, conducted a full-scale trial at Jindal Steel in Odisha. The team successfully blended 5 per cent and 10 per cent rice husk pellets into Jindal Steel gasifiers, achieving sustained syngas production with no loss of performance.
If adopted across India, the process could reduce steel sector emissions by up to 50 per cent totalling approximately 357 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.
To support take-up of the new technology, the CSIRO-RESCONS team has published an interactive online map of India's steelmaking infrastructure overlaid with regional biomass availability, enabling users to identify key facilities and assess supply opportunities. The map is available at https://new-map-main.vercel.app/ .
Next Steps
Building on this success, the team will expand their work to include smaller-scale regional steelmaking facilities and a wider range of biomass sources, including integrated systems that produce both food and steel feed.
This pioneering work by CSIRO and its Indian partners is set to fast-track the adoption of biomass for steelmaking, delivering major emissions reductions, improving air quality and supporting regional economic development in India.
Key Facts:
- India's steel sector emits 2.55 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of steel, compared to the global average of 1.8.
- Air quality is a major health issue in India, with more than 30,000 deaths annually linked to poor air quality, much of it caused by in-field burning of crop residues.
- India has mandated 5 per cent biomass co-firing in thermal power plants from 2024-25, but no such mandate yet exists for the steel sector.
- Surplus crop residue biomass in India totals 228.52 million tonnes.
- Biomass use in steelmaking could reduce net emissions by up to approximately 1.19 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of crude steel.
- The private sector's steel consumption is expected to nearly triple by 2030-31.
Warren Flentje, Senior Experimental Scientist, CSIRO: "This trial is a world-first demonstration of how agricultural waste can be harnessed to decarbonise steelmaking at scale. By blending rice husk pellets into commercial gasifiers, we've shown that biomass can replace coal without compromising performance. This is a major step forward for sustainable steel production in India and globally."
Keith Vining, Research Group Leader – Green Metals Production, CSIRO: "India's steel sector is both a major employer and a significant source of emissions. Our partnership with the Indian Institute of Science and JSPL has demonstrated that biomass can be a viable alternative to coal, especially in regional areas where surplus agri-waste and coal DRI facilities co-exist. The next phase will focus on increasing biomass replacement rates and assessing impacts on the direct reduction process."
Professor Govind S. Gupta, Managing Director, RESCONS Solutions: "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."
Damodar Mittal, Executive Director, Jindal Steel: "This collaboration marks a pivotal moment in our journey towards decarbonisation using green hydrogen and green energy, accelerating our transition to lower-emission steel. By integrating green energy and biomass into our production processes, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint but also setting a new benchmark for the Indian steel industry."
Indian Institute of Science spokesperson: "Conventional steel production is highly carbon intensive, but process innovations like biomass gasification and hydrogen reduction can drastically lower emissions. Our partnership with CSIRO is helping to bring carbon neutrality to steel production by 2050."
