Say yes to fossil-free, greener steel!
A Swedish company SSAB achieved a green milestone in decarbonization when it made the world’s first “fossil-free” steel and delivered it to Volvo for use in their electric trucks. This environmentally friendly steel was created using green hydrogen instead of coal and coke as the reductant to combine iron ore and limestone together and was made in an electric arc furnace instead of the conventional coal-fired blast furnace so that’s killing two birds with one stone or in this case, two steps towards a greener future!
The company has a goal to create materials “without using fossil-fuels or fossil raw materials. Fossil-free steel is made without creating CO2 emissions and by using fossil-free energy sources.” For this purpose, they make sure that the hydrogen electrolyzers and arc furnaces are all run on “fossil-free” renewable energy and the iron used in the process also comes from “fossil-free” mining operations. The result is a sturdy steel of the same quality as regular steel albeit a little more expensive. But seeing how it helps to eliminate the harmful gases and their effects on the environment, a little more money is worth the material.
Volvo, along with SSAB are committed to making a climate-neutral business by 2050. SSAB sells more than 7 billion dollars’ worth of steel each year and is aiming to start producing this “fossil-free” steel on an industrial scale in 2026 and convert the entire business to “fossil-free” by 2045.
When it comes to environmentally friendly options, Sweden has always taken the lead and this time it aims to start production in the world’s largest green steel facility in 2024, setting a great example for other countries to follow in the green steel business.