The stakes are again high for the steel town of Whyalla as a billionaire owner who has broken past promises looks to a green future.
Australia's steel industry is at a crossroads, with Whyalla's Liberty steelworks on the front line as its billionaire owner's pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030 sets it on an ambitious and risky path.
He has proposed to replace coal with hydrogen in the manufacturing process to make what's known as green steel — a process that in theory should cut carbon emissions to near zero. "In terms of cost and availability, green hydrogen is some way off as it relies heavily on a massive increase in renewables," they told 7.30 in a statement.
Last month, steel worker unions around the globe held a crisis meeting amid European blast furnaces being temporarily idled and workers stood down amid poor economic conditions and a dispute over unpaid debt. In a statement, a spokesman for GFG Alliance said it denied any wrongdoing and pledged to "cooperate fully to ensure they can conclude their investigations as quickly as possible."
"I have no no knowledge of any details behind anything that happens outside of what we are focused on here in Australia."Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and Industry Minister Ed Husic both declined 7.30's requests for interviews. "I've heard a lot of stories about what's going to happen and what isn't going to happen and I think the morale is such that people are expecting nothing to happen," he said.
Mr Hobart had this to say when asked if he could guarantee the Whyalla plant would be making steel in 10 years' time.
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