Furthermore, there are many other ways of making steel that would constitute various shades of environmental impact ; this article proposes how to classify and define them.
However, within this context, Green Steel is the result that is part of a wider industrial transition to decarbonize the process of future steel producers and by extension their value chains from mine to metal.
This time it is a race for what will be history’s most prestigious title of “innovation leader of a new age” the age of the new green economy, and the challenge is coming from Europe.
The first is a fully integrated joint venture called , all planning to establish their first demonstration plant to remove fossil fuels from the steelmaking process by 2026.The demonstration plant will initially produce 1.3 million metric tons of fossil-free sponge iron, and expand capacity to 2.7 million tons by 2030.
The second is calling itself H2 Green Steel , a Swedish venture that will use hydrogen produced from renewable energy to reduce iron in the production of steel.
The press release outlines a true, fully integrated mine to metal project to produce hydrocarbon-free Green Steel.
The mine is fully permitted, all necessary real-estate is already under the control of ThREE’s sister companies, all employed technologies are proven at commercial scale and feasibility production will take less than 18 months.
Other steel producers are developing less ambitious strategies to reduce or sequester CO2 emissions, such as ArcelorMittal, who is exploring what it calls a “smart carbon” route.
The term Green Steel needs to be exclusively reserved for steel producers that can demonstrate zero hydrocarbon utilization from iron ore reduction to steel production.
The SSAB, H2GS and ThREE Consulting projects are true mine to metal Green Steel projects.