Swinburne University of Technology has become a founding member of the global Green Steel Alliance
The Green Steel Alliance brings together leading research and industry stakeholders worldwide to support a carbon-neutral future in steel smelting. The initiative will foster cooperation, knowledge exchange, and joint research projects to advance this transition.
The Alliance engenders joint research initiatives to accelerate the development and deployment of green steel technologies.
“Through the Green Steel Alliance, we’re creating a global partnership between universities and industry, offering the opportunity to transform the iron and steelmaking sector into a sustainable and carbon-neutral industry,” said Swinburne’s professor Alan Duffy, pro vice-chancellor, Flagship Initiatives.
“Swinburne is excited to be part of the drive towards a greener and more resilient iron and steel industry worldwide and a more sustainable future.
Initially founded with six universities renowned for their research in green steel, the alliance aims to bring industry partners and key stakeholders around the world to this platform to promote a carbon-neutral ironmaking and steelmaking future.
Swinburne University of Technology experts are at the forefront of the green steel revolution, developing new methods to advance a net zero emissions future through one of the world’s most widely used metals.
While steel is a fundamental building block of our modern societies, with more than 1.8 billion tonnes manufactured worldwide each year, the sector is a key carbon contributor, accounting for up to 9% of global carbon emissions.
Swinburne is tackling the problem by exploring green alternatives to pyrometallurgy, the process by which metals are extracted and purified by applying heat.
Our research includes using magnetite ores, hydrogen, ammonia, and renewable electricity to adapt the current smelting processes, most of which centre around carbon-rich furnaces.
Swinburne has been working closely with global steel giants such as Fortescue, Bluescope Steel, Infrabuild Steel, and Tata Steel Europe, alongside Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and the international environmental technology company Calix. Swinburne’s research will deliver solutions practically and at scale.
The Green Steel Alliance is a global initiative established by six universities renowned for their expertise in green steel research: Swinburne University of Technology, the University of Warwick (England), Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia), McMaster University (Canada), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (India), and Delft University of Technology (Netherlands).
Geoffrey Brooks, Swinburne’s professor and chair in Sustainable Mineral Processing at CSIRO, celebrates the university’s role as a founding member.
“I am very excited to be working with the top people in my field around the world to address a global problem. There is already significant collaboration between these universities, but this formal alliance will be a platform to grow and nurture these important relationships,” said Brooks.