In October 2020, Protect our Water Alliance and Lock the Gate co-hosted a webinar on the future of a steel industry without coal – Green Steel.

Tony Wood from the Grattan Institute says government should commit to funding a green steel project powered and fed by hydrogen. The Prime Minister has just announced that low-carbon steel is one of five priority technologies that will receive targeted government investment.

Could a green steel project be built in the Illawarra? How many jobs would it create? What are the challenges and opportunities? And if the future of steel-making in the Illawarra is coal-free, how do we create new opportunities for people currently employed to mine coal under our drinking water catchment?

MC: Tim Buckley, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Speakers:

Dr John Pye is a senior lecturer at the Australian National University. Recently, he has joined an ANU ‘Grand Challenge’ initiative named Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific, with the proposal to develop pathways for the fully carbon-neutral production of iron and steel.

Tony Wood, Energy Program Director, Grattan Institute. Tony is one of Australia’s best-known commentators on energy policy. He is also co-author of a recent study called ‘Start with steel: A practical plan to support carbon workers and cut emissions’