Photo by Francisco Fernandes on Unsplash

SSAB, which produces approximately 8.8 million tonnes of steel every year at its production plants in Sweden, Finland and the United States, has invested in technology that uses clean hydrogen in place of metallurgical coal.

Metallurgical coal has long been used to manufacture steel, one of the most ubiquitous materials on the planet. Coal is conventionally used for heating and in chemical reactions to create iron, the essential ingredient needed to make steel. But as the world grapples with the climate crisis, the steel industry’s centuries-old reliance on coal — and its enormous carbon footprint — is being called into question.

According to the World Steel Association, the industry is responsible for between seven and nine per cent of the global emissions created from the burning of fossil fuels.

With the Paris Agreement setting out global goals to dramatically reduce carbon pollution and limit warming to less than two degrees by 2050, the steel sector is, for many, next up in the push to rethink age-old industries.

‘The world is looking for steel-making coal’: Alberta energy minister

“There is a tremendous resource of metallurgical coal in Alberta and the world is looking for steel-making coal,” Energy Minister Sonya Savage said in a press conference in February as she defended her government’s push to expand mining opportunities.

Metallurgical coal mines, Savage added, “can help Alberta businesses meet increasing global demand for steel and provide good-paying jobs for hard-working Albertans.”

Source: How the global steel industry is cutting out coal | The Narwhal