Towards sustainable manufacturing in India

A major effort to develop and deploy clean energy technologies worldwide is urgently needed to meet international energy and climate goals. The IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives 2020  examines how to address the challenge of transitioning to a net-zero emissions world. Completing the journey will require devoting far more attention to heavy industries and long-distance transport.  

But deep CO2 emissions reductions in heavy industries – in particular the chemicals, steel and cement sectors – is far from straightforward, with many of the technologies that we are likely to rely upon for decoupling emissions from bulk material production in the future still at early phases of development. 

This session will delve into how these technology opportunities, in conjunction with demand-side mitigation strategies, can be exploited in India – a country that is projected to be home of the largest demand growth for steel and cement worldwide over the next decades. In particular, the iron and steel sector will be taken as an illustrative case to focus the discussion on the specific innovation needs and policy strategies that can boost the clean transition in that sector with a view to the findings of the IEA’s Global Technology Roadmap for the Iron and Sector that includes a special focus on India.