The Clean Steel Challenge - Iron Ore Electrolysis for the Win?
Steelmaking is on the hard to abate list of large-scale global emissions culprits - what's the best route to decarbonisation?
Could iron-ore electrolysis be the revolutionary, zero-carbon alternative to traditional blast furnaces?
Steelmaking accounts for approximately 8% of global fossil-based CO2 emissions. The dominant manufacturing process, which produces 90% of the global primary steel, is via blast furnace / basic oxygen furnace.
This utilises metallurgical coal (coke) as a chemical reducing agent to remove oxygen from iron ore. This reaction inherently generates large quantities of CO2.
What are the different options for decarbonising steel production, and is iron-ore electrolysis the best way forward?
