Summary Reader Response Draft #3
The article “How green steel made with electricity could clean up a dirty industry” written by Crownhart (2022), introduces green steel - the production of steel without fossil fuels.
As steel is used everywhere, it is expected to have a high
demand. This, in turn, would result in a higher production rate to meet the
demand. In the article, Crownhart (2022) reports that the steel industry
produces nearly 2 billion tonnes of steel annually. As a result of such high
production rates, steelmaking contributes to about two tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions for every tonne of steel produced, adding up to about 10% of such
emissions globally. With the steel industry expected to grow by about 30% by
2050, the steel industry has pledged to reach “net-zero emissions”. To fulfil
this, steel manufacturers need to find a cleaner way to produce steel, thus the
invention of steel’s new competition, green steel. Green steel has a chance to
become a more sustainable alternative to traditional steel due to its
production process that does not emit carbon emissions, the use of renewable
resources in its manufacturing, and its ability to be of the same quality as
traditional steel.
According to Borkar (2022), green steel is also known as
“carbon-free" steel because, unlike traditional steel, it does not require
fossil fuels for production. Green steel is produced in two ways, through
molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) and hydrogen-based direct reduction. In the
article, Crownhart (2022) mentions that traditional steel production occurs in
fossil fuels whereby coke, a material derived from coal, reacts with iron ore
that consists of a mixture of iron oxides and other materials. Through this
process, liquid iron is formed, and carbon dioxide is released. In the molten
oxide electrolysis process, electricity flows through a cell containing a
mixture of dissolved oxides and materials, forming steel, and emitting oxygen.
As the name states, hydrogen-based direct reduction uses hydrogen to react with
iron ore to form steel and release water vapor (Wolf, 2022). As the two
production methods for green steel release oxygen and water vapor that is
essentially harmless to the environment, green steel can significantly reduce
carbon emissions produced by steel manufacturing, bringing the steel industry
one step closer to reaching its goal of having net-zero emissions by
2050.
Another reason why green steel is more sustainable than
traditional steel would be the use of renewable sources in its production. As
molten oxide electrolysis uses renewable energy while hydrogen-based direct
reduction uses green hydrogen, steel manufacturers would not have to rely on
finite resources such as coal and natural gas for steel production. Obtaining
coal and natural gas for steel manufacturing requires mining, which is the
process of drilling or blasting the ground to extract minerals from the earth
(Adams, 2021). Mining is harmful to the environment as it results in
deforestation, water pollution, and most importantly, the emission of
greenhouse gases (Haddaway et al.,2019). The mining process is also dangerous
to people as miners are at risk of danger and developing respiratory health
problems (Adams, 2021). The utilisation of renewable resources in green steel
production benefits the environment as it emits little to no greenhouse gases
and air pollutants into the atmosphere. In addition, using renewable resources
also benefits the human population as it is readily accessible and it can even
provide people with job opportunities (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the
21st Century, 2019). As such, the use of renewable resources would reduce the
negative impacts traditional steel manufacturing poses on the environment.
Another feature that makes green steel superior to traditional
steel is its ability to replicate the properties of steel (Borkar, 2022). As
such, steel manufacturers would not have to worry about green steel being
weaker than traditional steel as it would still possess the same properties as
steel. The ability of green steel to have the same characteristics as regular
steel means that green steel has the potential to replace traditional steel in
its various applications. This would be a win for both the environment and the
steel industry because if green steel were to replace regular steel in its
applications, the production rate of green steel would have to be similar to
traditional steel’s production rate, which is expected to reach 1881.4 Mt in
2023, as reported by Worldsteel Association (2022). With green steel having the
same production rate as traditional steel, steel manufacturers would not have
to worry about meeting the demands for steel, and, at the same time, there will
be little to no harm to the environment when the production rate of green steel
increases to be the same as traditional steel.
Despite all the advantages surrounding green steel, it still has
flaws, like its high production cost. The cost of production for hydrogen-based
steel is approximately 20% to 30% higher than traditional steel. With the
higher cost corresponding to the price of carbon which ranges from $70 to
$100/tCO2, green steel is expected to sell at a price range of $91 to $130
(Rocky Mountain Institute, 2019). Moreover, when electricity is converted into
hydrogen, about 30% of it is lost. This would be a problem in large-scale
manufacturing as there is bound to be a limit on clean electricity and hydrogen
for a few decades (Gordon, 2023).
In conclusion, though green steel is a more sustainable
alternative to traditional steel, there are still improvements that can be
made, like its high production cost. All in all, green steel would be a
reasonable choice as it would also help steel manufacturers to achieve their
goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
References
Adams, T. (2021, April 13). What are the techniques and hazards in drilling and blasting?
https://globalroadtechnology.com/techniques-and-hazards-in-drilling-and-blasting/
Barkor, V. (2022, June 7). Green Steel: How one of the world’s most emission intensive
industry plans to decarbonize.
Crownhart, C. (2022, June 28). How green steel made with electricity could clean up a dirty
industry.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/28/1055027/green-steel-electricity-boston-metal/
Gordon, O. (2023, January 20). The four-horse race to decarbonise steel.
https://www.energymonitor.ai/sectors/industry/the-four-horse-race-to-decarbonise-steel/
Haddaway, N.R., Cooke, S.J., Lesser, P., Macura, B., Nilsson
A.E., Taylor, J.J., Raito, K. (2019, February 21). Evidence of the impacts of metal mining and the
effectiveness of mining mitigation measures on social–ecological systems in
Arctic and boreal regions: a systematic map protocol.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-019-0152-8
Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (2019, May
28). Why is renewable energy
important?
https://www.ren21.net/why-is-renewable-energy-important/
Rocky Mountain Institute. (September 2019). The Disruptive Potential of Green Steel.
https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/green-steel-insight-brief.pdf
Wolf, F. (2022, August 23). Green steel: Making steel with renewable energy and fewer
emissions.
https://mergeflow.com/research/green-steel
Worldsteel Association (2022, August 4). World Steel in Figures 2022.
https://worldsteel.org/steel-topics/statistics/world-steel-in-figures-2022/
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