ThREE Consulting & Caldera Holding LLC President Mr James Kennedy in a recent article suggested that the term Green Steel needs to be exclusively reserved for steel producers that can demonstrate zero hydrocarbon utilization from iron ore reduction to steel production. He wrote “Anything less should be measured under a different category. For example, Cyan Steel could be a classification for recycled steel mixed with hydrocarbon-free reduced iron ore using renewable energy to power the EAF. Blue Steel could be a measured category to produce reduced iron ore using mixed reduction gasses (H2 + CO or other) and renewable-powered EAF steelmaking technology. Yellow/Grey/Brown Steel could be for biofuel or sequestered CO2 emission processes for the reduction of iron in conjunction with renewable powered EAF steelmaking. Other emission reduction classifications can be applied to emission reductions associated with the traditional blast furnace process.” He wrote that “Sweden is the first country to pursue the industrial transformation to Green Steel through two different projects. The first is a fully integrated joint venture called Hybrit, a fully integrated mine to metal project. The Swedish initiative is comprised of steelmaker SSAB, iron ore producer LKAB and energy company Vattenfall, all planning to establish their first demonstration plant to remove fossil fuels from the steelmaking process by 2026.The demonstration plant will initially produce 1.3 million tonnes of fossil-free sponge iron, and expand capacity to 2.7 million tonnes by 2030. The second is calling itself H2 Green Steel, a Swedish venture that will use hydrogen produced from renewable energy to reduce iron in the production of steel. Demonstration scale production is scheduled to begin as early as 2024and full-scale commercial production will follow through 2030, with a targeted production of five million tons of carbon-free steel annually.” He added “Until two weeks ago, the US did not have a contestant in the race to Green Steel. On June 4th ThREE Consulting announced that it has applied for funding from the Department of Energy to generate integrated feasibility studies to validate the techno-economic assessment of their domestic Mine to Metal, Green Steel Project, located in East-Central Missouri in USA. It’s a fully integrated mine to metal project to produce hydrocarbon-free Green Steel. The defining goal of this project is to produce Green Steel economically, not relying on carbon-capture credits, subsidies or inflated ‘premium pricing’ for Green Steel. The feasibility studies will demonstrate the economic viability of utilizing commercially proven hydrogen-reduction technologies with nuclear and renewable power to generate hydrogen for the reduction of iron ore. The commercial scale facility would produce 2.5 million tonnes of hydrocarbon free steel. “ He also said “Other steel producers are developing less ambitious strategies to reduce or sequester CO2 emissions, such as ArcelorMittal, who is exploring what it calls a smart carbon route. This strategy involves a mixture of biomass and carbon-capture approaches. Japanese and German steel producers are looking into mixed-gas strategies that substitute some portion of the CO reducing gas with hydrogen. These substitution and sequestering strategies are just variations of the status quo, or half-measures. These are not true Green Steel projects.” He concluded “The SSAB, H2GS and ThREE Consulting projects are true mine to metal Green Steel projects. Developing a scoring classification or a green-ratio, even conducting Life Cycle Assessments for reduced-emission green steel will be crucial to the promoting and pricing differences between low and no emission steel products. The ranking and scoring of all possible configurations of green and reduced-emission steel will become an issue to be defined by international bodies; one thing will be decided in the context of history as early as 2025.”
ThREE Consulting & Caldera Holding LLC President Mr James Kennedy in a recent article suggested that the term Green Steel needs to be exclusively reserved for steel producers that can demonstrate zero hydrocarbon utilization from iron ore reduction to steel production. He wrote “Anything less should be measured under a different category. For example, Cyan Steel could be a classification for recycled steel mixed with hydrocarbon-free reduced iron ore using renewable energy to power the EAF. Blue Steel could be a measured category to produce reduced iron ore using mixed reduction gasses (H2 + CO or other) and renewable-powered EAF steelmaking technology. Yellow/Grey/Brown Steel could be for biofuel or sequestered CO2 emission processes for the reduction of iron in conjunction with renewable powered EAF steelmaking. Other emission reduction classifications can be applied to emission reductions associated with the traditional blast furnace process.” He wrote that “Sweden is the first country to pursue the industrial transformation to Green Steel through two different projects. The first is a fully integrated joint venture called Hybrit, a fully integrated mine to metal project. The Swedish initiative is comprised of steelmaker SSAB, iron ore producer LKAB and energy company Vattenfall, all planning to establish their first demonstration plant to remove fossil fuels from the steelmaking process by 2026.The demonstration plant will initially produce 1.3 million tonnes of fossil-free sponge iron, and expand capacity to 2.7 million tonnes by 2030. The second is calling itself H2 Green Steel, a Swedish venture that will use hydrogen produced from renewable energy to reduce iron in the production of steel. Demonstration scale production is scheduled to begin as early as 2024and full-scale commercial production will follow through 2030, with a targeted production of five million tons of carbon-free steel annually.” He added “Until two weeks ago, the US did not have a contestant in the race to Green Steel. On June 4th ThREE Consulting announced that it has applied for funding from the Department of Energy to generate integrated feasibility studies to validate the techno-economic assessment of their domestic Mine to Metal, Green Steel Project, located in East-Central Missouri in USA. It’s a fully integrated mine to metal project to produce hydrocarbon-free Green Steel. The defining goal of this project is to produce Green Steel economically, not relying on carbon-capture credits, subsidies or inflated ‘premium pricing’ for Green Steel. The feasibility studies will demonstrate the economic viability of utilizing commercially proven hydrogen-reduction technologies with nuclear and renewable power to generate hydrogen for the reduction of iron ore. The commercial scale facility would produce 2.5 million tonnes of hydrocarbon free steel. “ He also said “Other steel producers are developing less ambitious strategies to reduce or sequester CO2 emissions, such as ArcelorMittal, who is exploring what it calls a smart carbon route. This strategy involves a mixture of biomass and carbon-capture approaches. Japanese and German steel producers are looking into mixed-gas strategies that substitute some portion of the CO reducing gas with hydrogen. These substitution and sequestering strategies are just variations of the status quo, or half-measures. These are not true Green Steel projects.” He concluded “The SSAB, H2GS and ThREE Consulting projects are true mine to metal Green Steel projects. Developing a scoring classification or a green-ratio, even conducting Life Cycle Assessments for reduced-emission green steel will be crucial to the promoting and pricing differences between low and no emission steel products. The ranking and scoring of all possible configurations of green and reduced-emission steel will become an issue to be defined by international bodies; one thing will be decided in the context of history as early as 2025.”