Australia's richest man calls for coal to be abandoned in metallurgy

While Australia's richest man says his country needs to pursue green steel production from hydrogen and renewable energy, he is displeasing the coal-rich country. How realistic is it to get rid of metallurgical coal in energy-intensive steel production?

This is possible if the cost of producing green hydrogen continues to fall. And if the world community sets a price for every ton of CO2 emitted. Then the main obstacle would be overcome: cost, which would induce manufacturers to join it.

Almost all steel today is produced using iron oxide and coal. This coal is placed in a kiln at 1100 degrees Celsius to remove water and other chemicals. After all, it produces a clean source of carbon called coke, which is eventually used to make steel. Could renewable energy work instead?

“It is clear that there are alternatives to coal for each of the three important roles it plays in steelmaking. (This will) require the steel industry to invest heavily in new infrastructure such as renewable smelters, ”writes Noah Beecher Kelk for Front Line Action on Coal.

In the case of Australia, Andrew Forrest, chairman of Fortescue Metals, is calling on the country to produce carbon-free steel. The company currently mines and exports iron ore, most of which goes to China where steel is produced and shipped back to Australia. But Dr. Forrest wants to launch a demonstration project this year to make steel using green hydrogen as an energy source. If successful, this will mean thousands of new jobs.

Dr. Forrest said making zero carbon steel is not impractical. In a speech cited by the Financial Review, he said that Thyssenkrupp in Germany and Japan's Nippon Steel are already working hard to make this happen. Rather than burning "met" coal at high temperatures, his company will use green hydrogen, where solar panels or wind can produce electricity that is passed through an electrolyzer to create pure hydrogen gas.

Last fall, the Swedish steel company SSAB began producing non-fossil steel. The goal is to replace "methane" coal, also called coking coal, with electricity from renewable energy and hydrogen, and to enable a fossil fuel-free steelmaking process by 2035. years. It cooperates with LKAB and Vattenfall, which are Europe's largest