Australia must invest in producing more green iron and scaling those capabilities to become a global leader in energy transition, according to panellists at the Green Metals Forum during COP30 conference in Brazil.
Dr Rahman Daiyan, from UNSW’s School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, said Australia must become more than a traditional resources provider and invest in downstream processing and low-carbon supply chain design.
Daiyan noted that Australia could use its renewable energy advantage, its vast solar and wind potential, to produce green iron cheaply and export it to Europe and Asia, embedding the country in the global low-carbon supply chain.
“It’s not that we are [only] bottling up our sunshine and wind in the form of green metals,” Dr Daiyan said.
“It’s also about the technology integration – the universities coming in. There are a number of startups in Australia developing this sort of technology as well.”
Fellow panellist Richard Carcenac, Head of Green Metal Technology at Australian mining company Fortescue, said the transition to green iron is “imperative”.
“The steel industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world, so we clearly have to clean that up,” Carcenac said.
“From an Australian perspective, it’s essential we keep our iron ores relevant in a decarbonised world.”
Fortescue is constructing a demonstration plant to prove that Australia’s low- to mid-grade iron ore can be converted into high-purity green iron. The company expects to ship its first output of green iron in 2026.
Another panellist, the Superpower Institute’s Joanna Kay, agreed that Australian universities gave the country an edge when it comes to the green transition.
“We’ve got so much talent … There’s so much happening within our research institutes that will catapult the technology we need to make these industries go forward, and go forward very quickly.”
