One company, called Stegra, is close to launching the world’s first commercial green steel plant to produce metal using hydrogen from renewable sources. (You may know this company by its previous name, H2 Green Steel, as it is included in our 2023 list of climate change technology companies to watch.)
When I first started following Stegra a few years ago, the company’s plans for a large-scale green steel mill seemed incredibly far away. The company now says it plans to produce steel at the plant by next year.
The biggest challenge in this area is money. Building a new steel mill was expensive, and Stegra raised about $7 billion. The company’s products will also be more expensive than traditional materials, so it needs to find customers willing to pay (so far it has).
There are other efforts to clean up steel, and they will all face similar funding challenges. That includes another Swedish operation called Hybrid, as well as startups like Boston Metal and Electra that use different processes. To learn more about green steel and the potential obstacles it faces as it enters a new phase of commercialization, check out this short blurb and this longer feature on Stegra.
cow burp treatment
Humans love hamburgers, steaks, milk and cheese, so we raise lots of cows. The problem is that these animals belong to a group that has a strange digestive process that produces large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. More and more companies are trying to develop remedies to help reduce methane emissions.