Green Steel Innovations Could Propel U.S. Toward Zero-Carbon Industry Amid Rising Steel Demand and Emissions.

Nik Sawe, policy analyst at Energy Innovation: Policy & Technology, argues that the use of green steel could help the US reach a zero-carbon industry. He argues that steel production generates roughly 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and this is due to worsen as steel demand increases and industry is predicted to be the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The solution lies in finding alternatives to blast and basic oxygen furnaces, which produce around half of all emissions in the iron and steel industry. The use of hydrogen-based DRI (H2-DRI) furnaces can reduce emissions through replacing natural gas or coal with green hydrogen, which can be substituted for green hydrogen. The technology is already being used in many of the nearly 50 low-carbon steel projects planned to be completed across the European Union by 2030, according to the Leadership Group for Industry Transition. Two other promising technologies can also be used to produce pure iron production using electrolysis, Aquequeous electrolysis (electrowinning), where an electric compound breaks down its elements into its elements at a low temperature and operates at low temperatures.