Summary Reader Response Draft #4

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” (Crownhart, 2022). 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). Additionally, the mining process is also dangerous to people as miners are at risk of danger and developing respiratory health problems (Adams, 2021). While 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, it 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 (Rocky Mountain Institute, 2019). 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, however, 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.

https://www.aranca.com/knowledge-library/articles/business-research/green-steel-how-one-of-the-worlds-most-emission-intensive-industry-plans-to-decarbonize

 

Crownhart, C. (2022, June 28). How green steel made with electricity could clean up a dirty industry. Technology Review.

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. Energy Monitor.

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. Environmental Evidence, 8.

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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