A while back NAEE published a feature on ways of making steel without using so much carbon. It noted that currently steel production makes up around 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The article explored the use of hydrogen as the reductant instead of coke. To be ‘green’, of course, the hydrogen has to be made with renewable energy (electricity).
Last week, the Economist had a feature on steel making exploring processes developed in North America to use electricity to produce steel without using hydrogen. The idea here is to do for steel what is already commonplace for aluminium – to electrolyse the molten ore to release the metal and oxygen by using some clever chemistry.
The Economist has the details.