Two birds, one stone? Green steel could tackle Australia’s housing crisis and cut emissions

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 19:35:42 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/two-birds-one-stone-green-steel-could-tackle-australias-housing-crisis-and-cut-emissions-268291>

"Australia is currently facing twin crises: housing and climate change.

A lot more homes are needed, fast. Australia’s housing crisis isn’t just an
affordability issue. It damages mental health over the long term.

But building more houses contributes substantially to carbon emissions.

There’s one material that sits squarely at the centre of both the housing and
climate crises: steel. Steelmaking is one of the world’s biggest industrial
emitters, responsible for 7–9% of carbon emissions globally. It’s essential for
housing, from single houses to larger developments and apartment towers.

There’s a win-win here. Australia is well placed to make green steel from its
abundant iron ore supplies. This makes it possible to cut emissions while
scaling up building efforts using faster prefab and modular factory techniques
making use of steel’s strength and exact dimensions."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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