Pathways to decarbonizing steel

Little-known fact: The primary product of steel mills is CO2.

A conventional blast furnace produces almost two tons of carbon dioxide for every ton of steel. And with almost two billion tons of steel produced annually — roughly 500 pounds for every human, every year — that’s a lot of carbon: about 8% of global energy system emissions. And yet, steel is vital for vast parts of the economy, including the energy transition itself. 

So why does steel production emit so much CO2? And what are the pathways to fixing it?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Rebecca Dell, senior director of the industry program at the Climateworks Foundation. They cover topics like:

• How steelmaking generates emissions from both heat and the production process itself
• Why coal is so useful for blast furnaces, and why natural gas can’t fully replace it
• Why recycling cuts emissions but hits a ceiling
• Direct reduced iron, which uses methane or hydrogen and requires high-quality ore
• Less-developed but promising alternatives: molten oxide electrolysis and aqueous electrolysis, which can use low-quality ore
• The limits of carbon capture and storage and material substitution
• The major players building DRI facilities, like SSAB, ThyssenKrupp, and Salzgitter

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