The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
energymonitor.ai
The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
1–10 of 75 posts
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#2>To decarbonise DRI, producers can add carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to catch the emitted CO2. Or, if they have an external heating source, they can use pure hydrogen instead of coal, a process called HDRI – this is the decarbonising steel technology that has probably received the most investment up to now. Alternatively, there are two types of electrolysis technologies. In aqueous electrolysis (AE), as used by Electra, iron ore is submerged in acid and zapped with electricity, making the oxygen bubble off. In molten oxide electrolysis (MOE), electrodes are placed in powdered iron ore and a high current is run through it until it melts, and the oxygen comes off.
All of these processes require an intense amount of energy either directly or indirectly. Where is all this energy to come from if right now it comes from coal/fuel?
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#3Decarbonising steel is a funny thing to say. Since steel is an alloy of iron and carbon it should mean turning steel into iron. Of course it is meant in a different way in the article.
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#4>To decarbonise DRI, producers can add carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to catch the emitted CO2. Or, if they have an external heating source, they can use pure hydrogen instead of coal, a process called HDRI – this is the decarbonising steel technology that has probably received the most investment up to now. Alternatively, there are two types of electrolysis technologies. In aqueous electrolysis (AE), as…
It should be obvious that electrification requires producing more electricity.
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#5All I am seeing is a ton of reasons to build an absolute boat load of cheap nuclear power. None of these processes are even remotely possible without abundant essentially free energy.
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#6All I am seeing is a ton of reasons to build an absolute boat load of cheap nuclear power. None of these processes are even remotely possible without abundant essentially free energy.
If only nuclear power were cheap!
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#7All I am seeing is a ton of reasons to build an absolute boat load of cheap nuclear power. None of these processes are even remotely possible without abundant essentially free energy.
If only nuclear power were cheap!
It is! Just not in Western countries sadly.
China is building a ton of nuclear at very good prices.
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only nuclear power were cheap!
It is! Just not in Western countries sadly. China is building a ton of nuclear at very good prices.
I’m curious how Chinese nuclear power plant prices compare to Chinese solar panel prices. They are both cheaper than in western countries.
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#9All I am seeing is a ton of reasons to build an absolute boat load of cheap nuclear power. None of these processes are even remotely possible without abundant essentially free energy.
My thoughts as well.
It's too bad so many people are indoctrinated to think the way they do about nuclear power in the US.
Re: The four-horse race to decarbonise steel
#10All I am seeing is a ton of reasons to build an absolute boat load of cheap nuclear power. None of these processes are even remotely possible without abundant essentially free energy.
I am curious if these processes need continuous power or if they would work okay if most of their power was delivered during the daytime.