Sweden-based specialized steelmaker SSAB has produced and delivered the world’s first 100 percent fossil-free steel to the Volvo Group, its first customer. SSAB called the trial delivery “an important step on the way to a completely fossil-free value chain for iron- and steelmaking.”

Here’s all you need to know about fossil fuel-free steel and its impact on the environment:

What is fossil-free steel?

To make steel, industries use coking coal. Coke and coal are fossil fuels and contribute heavily to the world’s carbon emissions. SSAB developed fossil-free steel using 100 percent fossil-free hydrogen. Hydrogen is one of the key requirements while making steel and can be produced in a number of ways.

How is fossil-free steel made?

To make conventional steel, iron ore is converted into iron by removing oxygen. One can remove oxygen using coal and coke following the blast furnace process.

To make fossil-free steel, hydrogen gas using the HYBRIT process is used along with fossil-free electricity. Fossil-free electricity is used to produce hydrogen from water via a method called electrolysis, which splits Hydrogen and Oxygen and the byproduct of the process is water, and not CO2, which is harmful to the environment.

The end result of the HYBRIT process is solid iron (sponge iron) which is then melted in an electric arc furnace.

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How different is fossil-free steel from regular steel?

Fossil-free steel and regular steel have the same properties, quality and performance when put to use in industrial applications. The only difference is in the pricing and the impact they have on the environment. The production cost of fossil-free steel is higher than regular steel resulting in a higher price for the consumer.

How fossil-free steel can benefit the planet?

The use of fossil-free steel can help immensely in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the steel industry contributes heavily when it comes to CO2 emissions.

As it is environment friendly, customers who are contributing, demanding, and working towards making their product's environment friendly will prefer switching to fossil-free steel in the future.

This switch to fossil free-steel will help countries take a step forward to achieve zero net emissions by 2050 as per the Paris Climate Change agreement.

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(Edited by : Yashi Gupta)