The Manufacture of Steel and Cement Releases Huge Amounts of Greenhouse Gasses
by John Lawrence
It's not enough to electrify cars and make power plants carbon free. About one third of greenhouse gasses are produced by manufacturing processes - mainly in the manufacture of steel and concrete. In order to get to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, we need to come up with new ways to manufacture steel and cement. Fortunately a Swedish company has come up with a way to manufacture steel without at the same time releasing large amounts of greenhouse gasses. Ironically, wind turbines which produce fossil fuel free energy require large amounts of fossil fuels in the manufacture of their steel. For every ton of steel produced in the world, almost two tons of CO2 are emitted as well. To really combat climate change, major manufacturing processes need to be revolutionized as well.
Sweden’s SSAB says it has “produced the world’s first fossil-free steel” and has started delivering it to the Volvo Group, its first customer. Cars and trucks are made with lots of steel. Volvo has announced plans to manufacture cars using fossil fuel-free steel by 2026. Fossil fuel free steel has been developed by a consortium of three Swedish companies, two of which are owned by the Swedish state. The Hybrit project was set up in 2016. The idea underpinning Hybrit is to use “100% fossil-free hydrogen” rather than coal and coke in steel production. The goal is to develop the technology so it can be demonstrated at an industrial scale. It’s hoped this could happen as early as 2026. The question is can this process be scaled up on a world wide scale so that the production of steel in its totality can be made fossil fuel free?
The cement industry dumps more than 2 billion tons of carbon into the air each year to make its ubiquitous building material, roughly three times as much as the aviation industry. Plastics are made from fossil fuels, but replacing plastics should be as simple as going back to materials that were used before plastics were invented. In fact going back to the way of life of the 19th century, before oil was discovered, would eliminate a lot, but not all, greenhouse gasses. There is still coal which was ubiquitous in the 19th century. As far as transportation, before the advent of the fossil fuel powered car, horse drawn conveyances were ubiquitous. This produced a lot of horse manure which was a problem in urban settings. People concerned about that breathed a sigh of relief when cars entered the scene because that eliminated the horse manure problem while at the same time creating the greenhouse gas problem which was unseen and unrecognized at the time. As it turns out horse manure is a very good fertilizer and can be put to a constructive use while carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks are deleterious.
But we can't go back to the 19th century. Modern development, using tons of steel and cement, will continue apace. We need to do what the Swedes did, and that is to develop manufacturing processes using hydrogen rather than carbon. We need to get smart about eliminating greenhouse gas emissions wherever they occur. It's not enough just to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. We need to create manufacturing processes free of fossil fuels as well. Also we need to find a substitute for plastics. Many are currently being developed. The question is can they be scaled up in time. The same can be said for eliminating industrial farming and finding plant based substitutes for cows and pigs. The economy of the world needs to be reoriented from the pursuit of profit and even of development to the pursuit of creating an earth suitable for human habitation because with out that the human race has nothing.
