Originally Posted by
rutan around
Originally quoted by Chuboy
The relevance is that steel can be made without coal thereby eliminating CO2 emissions. Coal lovers often say banning coal would take us back to the dark ages because they think steel can't be made without it BUT THEY'RE WRONG
You can't make steel cheaply without coal. The technology required to achieve low emissions steel is already invented, it is mature. There are limited ways in which the cost can be reduced.
Commercial/industrial quantities of hydrogen are made from fossil fuels, by the way.
In any case, if you stop people from making cheap steel using coal, they will just buy it from somewhere that can. If you ban steel made from coal entirely, you will collapse the economy and find yourself out of a job quick smart.
There will realistically always be a need for coal and fossil fuels. The important thing is to make changes where alternatives are viable. Every bit counts. Piston powered aircraft won't run without leaded petrol but that doesn't mean we need to use it in our cars. Just because we don't have electric airliners doesn't mean we shouldn't transition to electric cars. Just because we need coal to make steel for construction doesn't mean we need to use coal to make electricity.
I digress. Adani is not interested in metallurgical coal anyway. They want to burn the coal they dig up. Speaking of steel, I see today that the Chinese banks who have reportedly decided to fund the Adani project are going to insist the materials are made in China. Sorry much for Australian jobs.