Sweden is experimenting with steel production without fossil fuels

Sweden wants to be the first country in the world to bring to the market steel produced without carbon (hydrocarbons, coal, oil or natural gas). The Hybrit pilot plant is located in northern Sweden.

A consortium consisting of SSAB, the mining company LKAB and the energy company Vattenfall is working on this project. Their goal is to develop a complete chain (from the mine to the finished product) without using fossil fuels. About 6,000 metric tons of iron are produced here every day. The final product – steel – is transformed into mining machines and equipment.

Today’s steel industry is not ecological at all. SSAB is currently the biggest polluter in the Swedish industrial sector and responsible for approximately 14% of Sweden’s total CO2 emissions. On a global scale, the steel industry represents approximately 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions. But a world without steel does not seem to be an option at the moment. It is still one of the most important construction materials of the modern world. A good and affordable alternative is not foreseeable in the near future. So, the only option seems to be to make the sector become ecological.

Steel produced without carbon – experiment

Experiments are taking place here by replacing coking coal – made from solid coal – with hydrogen. Instead of CO2, this process only releases water. Vattenfall supplies the hydrogen for this process. At this moment, the amount of „green steel” produced at the Hybrit plant is still modest. But if the tests here prove successful, large-scale production should begin in 2026. Hydrogen has already been recognized by EU Vice-President Frans Timmermans as „the new rock star of the energy sector”. The so-called „green hydrogen„, produced with electricity from renewable sources, only emits water vapor. Many consider it the energy solution of the future. All the more so as hydrogen can be stored for a long time, unlike, for example, wind or solar energy.

However, this process requires a lot of electricity. Once „green steel” production is up and running, it will require approximately 15 TWh each year. This represents over a tenth of the total electricity consumption in Sweden. The LKAB partner even calculated that, if the entire Swedish steel industry switched to fossil fuel-free production, its energy consumption would then constitute a third of the country’s consumption.

However, the starting position is good, according to energy group Vattenfall. Mikael Nordlander, Vattenfall’s development manager, said that “Sweden has a huge surplus. In fact, over 25 TWh of electricity was exported last year……..We see great opportunities to expand production in the long term.”

The green steel

One of the first customers for „green steel” is the Swedish car brand Volvo Cars. In five years, the company wants to switch to steel without fossil fuels for the 800 thousand cars that leave the assembly line every year.

The consortium behind Hybrit aims to achieve an annual production of 1.1 million metric tons of zero-emission steel, to be increased to approximately 2.7 million metric tons by 2030. However, this remains a fraction of the 1860 million metric tons of steel produced globally. If the steel industry really wants to slow down climate change, all other steel producers will have to get in line.

Source article – https://innovationorigins.com/en/sweden-experiments-with-fossil-free-steel/