Hydrogen Intelligence - H2lligence’s Post

Decarbonising the global steel industry is a tough row to hoe, but it must be done, and fast. Industry analysts project that demand for iron and steel could rise by up to 40% by 2050, assuming we’re not all underwater by then. Some steelmakers have dug in their heels on account of the increased cost. However, the #greensteel movement is gaining traction, with an assist from #greenhydrogen stakeholders. This Green Steel Hopeful Says Nay To Green Hydrogen… Conventional steelmaking leans heavily on #coal. The iron used for making steel is rendered from raw ore by coal-sourced gases. Coal is also the source of process heat and it provides carbon content for finished steel. #Naturalgas is also used in some processes. The #decarbonisation task is a big one. The iron and steel industry is credited with being “the most greenhouse gas intensive industry” in modern times. It is also the single biggest consumer of coal on the planet, credited with eating up about 7% of the world’s energy supply and emitting 7–9% of #greenhousegasemissions, according to one conservative estimate. Green hydrogen one of several decarbonisation pathways to emerge in the steel industry, and the EU is among the governments providing healthy subsidies to shepherd it along. However, the going has been slow. The leading #European steelmaker ArcelorMittal has been making some decarbonisation progress, but on February 24 the news organisation Hydrogen Insight reported some gloomy news in the green hydrogen area. “Steel giant ArcelorMittal has said it cannot operate its European plants using green hydrogen, despite being granted billions of euros of EU subsidies to install equipment to do so, because the resulting green steel would be unable to compete on international markets,” Hydrogen Insight reporter Rachel Parker reported. Parker also surmised that the company would use fossil-sourced gas instead of green hydrogen, though it could also cut its #carbonfootprint by importing green DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) from overseas. …And This One Says Yay All is not lost, however. Another European steelmaker has picked up the green hydrogen ball. On April 30, the #French hydrogen producer Lhyfe announced a new agreement with the #Swiss Steel Group subsidiary Ugitech to launch a green hydrogen unit at the company’s Ugine facility in #France. The exact size is up in the air, but the agreement calls for a maximum capacity of 30 #megawatts or about 12 metric tons of green hydrogen daily, produced from water with an electrolysis system. “This is the first agreement in Europe to replace fossil fuels with green hydrogen in the stainless steel sector,” Lhyfe noted. That’s pretty impressive, though it’s not a full decarbonisation project. As described by Lhyfe, the sustainable H2 will push natural gas from some of the heat-related processing equipment at the facility including burners and furnaces.

Hydrogen emerges as path to clean steel U.S. companies are trailing their European competitors in the race for a new generation of steel. On a call with investors in late January, one of the most powerful figures in American steel laid out plans to get rich with hydrogen. “Hydrogen is the real game-changing event in ironmaking and steelmaking,” said Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, North America’s largest flat-rolled steel company. “We are doing this to get paid, not to brag about it.” Goncalves said his company was testing hydrogen — albeit the kind produced with coal and its climate-warming emissions, not the “green” kind made with renewables — at a plant in Indiana and spending $10 million to build a hydrogen pipeline. He vowed to start using low-emission green hydrogen when it’s available in the U.S. The Cleveland-Cliffs trial marks a major step toward decarbonizing the steel industry, which is one of the biggest emitters in the broad U.S. industrial sector. Hydrogen, a powerful energy source that’s expensive to produce, does not emit greenhouse gases when burned. Atoms produced cleanly are rapidly emerging as core pieces of global climate strategy. All told, U.S. steel manufacturing produces roughly 1 percent of U.S. emissions and 7 to 8 percent of emissions globally — a modest but necessary area of decarbonization for the globe to prevent extreme temperature rise, according to climate scientists and energy experts. But despite talk of using hydrogen produced with less emissions in the coming years, Cleveland-Cliffs and other U.S. firms are trailing European competitors in the race for a new generation of steel with no greenhouse gas emissions linked to its production. Swedish firms SSAB and H2 Green Steel are already demonstrating zero-emissions steel and inking contracts with companies like Volvo. Experts say those European firms are now better positioned than U.S. companies to start making the big money on clean steel that Goncalves is striving for. “The U.S. is behind in policy and investment in green steel,” said Chris Bataille, an adjunct research fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “But it could catch up really fast with the right policy. It’s got all the right ingredients. It has all the right conditions to jump to the front quickly.” With global temperatures reaching historic highs, climate scientists say the global economy needs to decarbonize by 2050 to throttle the worst effects of climate change. In a scenario where U.S. greenhouse gas emissions drop to near zero by 2050, the Department of Energy predicts U.S. steel demand will increase 12 percent by 2050 compared to current demand. That’s largely because steel, which currently is linked to massive amounts of carbon pollution, is necessary to actually decarbonize economies. https://lnkd.in/eaYNnPDv

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 The world annually produces about 100 million tons of (conventional, grey) hydrogen, used mainly in fertilizer production and oil refining. About 2 billion tons of steel are produced annually around the world. The global steel industry is one of the largest CO2 emitting sectors (about 10% of all CO2 emissions), and is regarded as a hard-to-abate sector - that is, a sector in which it is difficult to significantly bring down CO2 emissions by just using low-hanging avenues such as switching over to renewable electricity. The steel industry is under significant pressure to decarbonize, with regulations and mandates driving its greening. It could hence become one of the first new, large off-takers for green hydrogen - in fact, this seems to be 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 that have a strong business case for large scale green hydrogen in the medium term (around 2030). Given all the above, I was interested in knowing how much green hydrogen would be needed to completely decarbonize the global steel industry. Well, the answer might not be straightforward as there are quite a few scenarios, but my reading suggests that if the global steel industry were to completely decarbonize using green hydrogen as the key driver, this sector alone will annually require about 100 million tons of green hydrogen. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 - 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 - 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦. Even at $2/Kg, that would be a new $200 billion business opportunity, from just one industry - about the same size as the TOTAL global solar power market currently. Even a fraction of this potential could take quite a long while to fructify, but these are the raw numbers. Cement is another hard-to-abate sector with potential for large GH2 offtakes...sectors such as Aluminium etc. could offer reasonable potential as well in similar contexts. Green hydrogen is still in its early stages. While optimists might claim it is round the corner - without being too specific about how far the corner is - one of the reasons even hard-headed folks are attracted to it is because of its ability to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, and the ensuing large business that opens up. Here's a lovely representation of the green steel sector by the creative folks at Visual Capitalist - https://lnkd.in/gGk4TUTH == (See all my decarbonization posts from 𝐍𝐞𝐭 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢 - https://shorturl.at/jx137 ) .

Decarbonizing Brazil's Steel Industry As demand for steel continues to grow, #emissions from Brazil’s #iron and #steel sector could soar by ~30% by 2050. Despite the prevalence of blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace technology (BF-BOF), the sector’s emissions intensity of 1.3-1.7 tonnes of #CO2 e per tonne of crude steel produced is well below the 2.0t CO2 e averaged by major producers. Nevertheless, given the FMC’s target of <0.4t CO2 e, steel decarbonization remains a top priority. Brazil’s clean energy mix, vast iron ore reserves and capacity for green hydrogen production position the country as a potential global leader in decarbonized iron- and steel-making. Brazil already has a national hydrogen programme and the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is due to open in the country in 2025. This could enable it to produce near-zero emission direct reduced iron (#DRI) as well as low-carbon steel in conjunction with electric arc furnaces powered by renewables. Challenges ⭕ Limited willingness to pay a green premium that could be 15% higher than traditional steel. ⭕ Access to affordable finance, given Brazil’s benchmark lending rate of 12.75% (September 2023). ⭕Limited recycling of steel scrap. ⭕ Overcapacity of highly emissive BF-BOF plants. ⭕Expense of retrofitting carbon capture technology to existing BF-BOF plants. Solutions ⭕Coalitions such as the FMC encouraging stronger demand signals for low-carbon steel from the automotive, construction and energy sectors. ⭕Greater value chain collaboration through partnerships and industrial clusters. ⭕Improving access to blended finance and government incentives. ⭕A more efficient scrap market. ⭕Accelerating Brazil’s green hydrogen industry. ⭕ Long-term planning that embraces Brazil’s potential global role. Clean energy ⭕ Green hydrogen: Brazil has all the ingredients to become a global leader in green hydrogen production. The steel industry must seize the opportunity to collaborate with the government on its national hydrogen plan and green hubs. Designating steel as a critical sector could help ensure sufficient green hydrogen to support DRI pathways. Increase availability of scrap in domestic markets ⭕ Using a combination of scrap steel and electric arc furnaces (EAFs) powered by renewables is a great way to decarbonize quickly. Brazil needs to improve the availability of domestic scrap steel, as it is not cost-effective to import scrap. ⭕ Government roles could include: regulation that requires steel parts to be specifically designed for recycling, financial incentives for increased recycled steel use in sectors such as automotive, and policy measures to open up private investment in scrap collection infrastructure. Read Full World Economic Forum Report here: https://lnkd.in/db3irKuu

The steel sector currently accounts for 7% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and requires reform to disconnect from fossil fuels. Lucky for us, there is an alternative fuel available: Hydrogen. CO2 is created as a by-product when coke (coal) is mixed with Iron ore (iron + impurities, mostly oxygen) to refine it and create pure iron. Additives such as metals are then added to iron to make it into steel. By replacing coke with hydrogen gas, we can replace CO2 emissions with water! This is where HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) technology comes in. -HYBRIT aims to upheave the current steel production processes by using hydrogen gas as the sole reducing agent for Iron ore. HYBRIT technology uses the Direct-Reduction of Iron (DRI) method to refine Iron. -DRI is different from traditional blast-furnace technology in that it uses a gas (carbon or hydrogen) to reduce solid ore rather than melting it down to a slag form. DRI is less energy intensive than the traditional blast-furnace.  Here’s how it’s done: -Iron ore is processed into fine pellets. These pellets are then sent into a feeder with hydrogen gas. -The Hydrogen reacts with the iron ore, bonding with the oxygen to form water vapor (H2O). The water vapour can be collected and distilled and the unreacted H2 gas can be sent back to the feeder to react with the pellets again. -One significant advantage of using hydrogen as the reducing agent is the ability to produce iron with minimal impurity levels, as hydrogen does not bring in extra contaminants like solid carbon materials do. Once again, limitations to using hydrogen involve its production, storage and transportation. Check out SSAB's pilot plant in Sweden. This is the world’s first green-steel plant, complete with hydrogen production on-site. Hydrogen is made in electrolyzers powered by renewable energy. -The hydrogen generated is used to reduce iron ore to iron, and the water created is distilled and bottled! -SSAB has proven that steel produced is easier to handle, transport and store. This claim is yet to be publicly validated. -The first few pilot batches of "green steel" are already in use over at the Volvo Group and SSAB is looking to start commercial production by 2026. Of course, these technologies are a long way away from becoming the norm globally. But with enough awareness and investment, we can work towards cleaning up a historically carbon-intense sector! Note: I looked hard for an efficiency comparison between hydrogen and carbon to find out which is the better reductant, but that data doesn’t seem to be readily available yet. Sources: https://lnkd.in/gPe-Yx52 https://lnkd.in/gNgAfsm7 https://lnkd.in/gWdD7Sd8 #greensteel #hydrogen #cleanenergy

'Green Hydrogen is too Expensive to Use in Our EU Steel Mills, Even Though We've Secured Billions in Subsidies' Head of ArcelorMittal’s European arm says that decarbonised steel could be made with imported DRI instead. Steel giant ArcelorMittal has said it cannot operate its European plants using #green #hydrogen, despite being granted billions of euros (1.65 billion Euros) of EU subsidies to install equipment to do so, because the resulting #green #steel would be unable to compete on international markets. Instead, the Luxembourg-based steelmaker appears to be intending to use fossil gas instead of H2 indefinitely in its proposed “green steel” plants — or it may even delay the construction of subsidised “direct-reduced iron” (DRI) manufacturing units in Europe in favour of importing green hydrogen-derived DRI from abroad. “We already know that hydrogen will be expensive in Europe,” Geert van Poelvoorde, head of ArcelorMittal’s European operations, told. “We will not be able to use it because we would catapult ourselves completely out of the market.” Policymakers want producers to eliminate emissions from the sector by using green-hydrogen DRI that is then turned into green steel using renewables-powered electric arc furnaces. But van Poelvoorde’s comments give credence to fears that ArcelorMittal’s planned new green steel installations, for which it has been granted billions in funding from EU governments on the understanding that they will eventually use renewable H2, would not actually use green hydrogen for years, if ever. ArcelorMittal is already a #DRI producer (using fossil gas as a reducing agent rather than hydrogen), but it needs hydrogen prices of close to €2/kg in order for H2-derived green steel made in the EU to be competitive, said van Poelvoorde — even with progressive European #carbon #taxes. For this reason, its planned (and subsidised) new DRI units would use fossil gas as a reducing agent rather than green hydrogen until renewable H2 is “affordable” — if they are built at all. At present, European electrolysis schemes can only produce hydrogen at around €6-7/kg, van Poelvoorde asserted, possibly €5/kg with some optimisation. Even green hydrogen imports would not be feasible, he added, noting that it costs €1.50/kg just to transport it from Africa, where it is cheaper to produce. “We are happy to use hydrogen, but only if our furnaces remain competitive,” van Poelvoorde said. “Surely it would be absurd that I might be able to get hydrogen, but at such a high price that I could no longer produce [steel].” Moreover, he says that inflation has pushed up costs, with the expected €1.1bn cost to install DRI and electric arc furnaces at its Ghent plant ballooning to nearly €2bn, throwing doubt on whether the project will ever be built. “How can I explain to our global headquarters that I want to invest almost €2bn, when I already know the plant cannot cope with the global competition?” he asked. Read full story here 👇

Nippon Steel, Japan's leading steelmaker, is embarking on a transformative journey to revolutionise steel production and reduce emissions. With a significant investment of ¥38.4bn ($250m), the company aims to develop highly efficient hydrogen-based direct iron reduction and electric arc furnaces. This ambitious research and development program, scheduled from this year through 2028, will focus on leveraging hydrogen (H2) to directly reduce low-grade iron ore, resulting in the production of 100 or more tonnes of iron per hour. The subsequent melting of iron into steel in electric furnaces represents a pivotal step towards achieving sustainable steel production. Supported by the Japanese government's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), which will contribute ¥23bn, this initiative underscores a collaborative effort to address climate change and promote carbon neutrality. The project aims to utilize H2 generated within Nippon Steel's existing works, supplemented by additional volumes purchased from external sources, likely grey hydrogen produced from steam methane reforming. NEDO estimates that the technology developed will reduce CO2 emissions by "more than 50%" by 2030, signaling a significant milestone in Japan's transition towards a low-carbon economy. Find out more about the initiative here: https://lnkd.in/efbmTMyk Nippon Steel's commitment to innovation extends beyond the development of hydrogen-based technologies. The company is also conducting a NEDO-backed trial to inject heated hydrogen into existing blast furnaces, resulting in a remarkable 33% reduction in emissions at a test furnace. As Japan intensifies its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and enhance energy security, stakeholders are encouraged to stay informed about emerging trends and transformative projects. Join us at the Japan Energy Summit & Exhibition from 3 - 5 June in Tokyo to explore innovative solutions and collaborative initiatives that accelerate the pathway to a sustainable, net-zero future. Download our 2024 Event Brochure to find out more: https://lnkd.in/gVAu7THs Book your delegate pass to engage in compelling keynote presentations, industry panel discussions and case studies in fostering cross-border collaborations toward a low-carbon economy: https://lnkd.in/g8MuZHMF Brought to you by dmg events: Energy Portfolio - organiser of ADIPEC Exhibition and Conference, Gastech 2024, Global Energy Show Canada, and Future Energy Asia Exhibition & Summit. #JapanEnergySummit #HardToAbate #CarbonReduction #Hydrogen

Steelmaking was once thought to be difficult if not impossible to decarbonize, with a key step in the process fully dependent on coal or natural gas. Well, that was then. The world’s first and biggest full scale green steel plant is taking shape in Sweden, with an assist from green hydrogen. That leaves about 1,000 steel plants around the world yet to decarbonize, but at least it’s a start. Green Hydrogen To Calm Steel’s Carbon Demon It’s no secret that steel is a carbon demon. Going by one commonly cited estimate, steel production accounts for 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, in part because gas or coal need to be involved. Removing fossil energy from that equation is not easy, for sure. But, it is also not impossible. The factor that makes it possible is green hydrogen, which refers to hydrogen pushed from water in an electrolysis system. The sticky wicket is the source of the electricity to run the electrolyzers. From a save-the-planet standpoint, water electrolysis makes no sense if fossil power plants are the source. However, renewable resources are now available. With the cost of wind and solar continuing to plummet, the economic and the climate cases for green hydrogen are both beginning to build. Green Hydrogen For Green Steel The fossil energy grip on steel takes place at various points along the way, particularly in the DRI (short for direct reduced ironmaking) step, which produces metallic iron from iron ore along with a carbon-rich gas. Here’s an explainer from the World Steel Association (worldsteel) #hydrogen #hidrogeno #greenhydrogen #energy #energia #energie #energytransition #transicionenergetica #energialimpia #hidrogenoverde #cleanenergy #industria #UNIDO #decarbonization #emissionsreduction #descarbonizacion #valuechain #hydrogenstrategy #suezcanal #sczone #electrolysis #electrolyzer #greenhydrogen #electrolyser #pem #soec #ev #electrification #electricvehicles #fcev #bev #jadeed #jadeedct #soe #aem #cathode #anode #h2 #oxygen #greenelectricity #water #energy #mena #renewableenergy #renewablehydrogen #greenhydrogen #idrogenoverde #hydrogènevert #hydrogenenergy #hydrogenstrategy #development #hidrogenioverde #hidrogenoverde #hidrógeno #hidrogenio #agora #afriquedusud #afriquedelouest #southafrica #wasserstoffwirtschaft #wasserstoff #wasserstoff #onshorewind #solarenergy #hydroenergy #ifc #afc #H2Med #irena #afrique  #greenhydrogen #renewablehydrogen #h2lligence #h2intelligence #renewableenergy #canaldesuez #sokhna #hydrogenintelligence #hydrogènevert #hydrogène #windenergie #hydrogenenergy #hydrogenfuel #hidrogenoverde #hidrógeno #hidrogenioverde #idrogenoverde #idrogeno #hidrojen #windpower #windenergy #menaregion #hydrogenfuelcell #giz #northafrica #uae #ifc #iea #ebrd #eib #europe #cop28 #cop28uae #waterstof #greenfuel  #greensteel #greenfuel #greenmethanol #egypt #world_bank #un #worldbankgroup #greensteel  #saharamarocain #subsaharanafrica #greenfert #suezcanal #redsea #mediterraneansea Osama Fawzy

“#GreenHydrogen To Help Eject #FossilFuels From #SteelIndustry “ May 2, 2024 - Tina Casey “The #decarbonization task is a big one. The #iron and #steel industry is credited with being “the most #greenhousegasintensive industry” in modern times. It is also the single biggest consumer of #coal on the planet, credited with eating up about 7% of the world’s #energysupply and emitting 7–9% of “greenhousegasemissions , according to one conservative estimate.” “#Greenhydrogen one of several decarbonization pathways to emerge in the steel industry, and the EU is among the governments providing healthy subsidies to shepherd it along.” “Another European #steelmaker has picked up the green hydrogen ball. On April 30, the French #hydrogen producer Lhyfe announced a new agreement with the Swiss Steel Group subsidiary Ugitech to launch a green hydrogen unit at the company’s Ugine facility in France. The exact size is up in the air, but the agreement calls for a maximum capacity of 30 megawatts or about 12 metric tons of green hydrogen daily, produced from water with an #electrolysis system.” “#Greensteel is just part of the Ugitech #electrolyzer project. Lhyfe also plans to ship some of the hydrogen from the electrolyzer system to #transportation stakeholders in the region.” https://lnkd.in/ezrcjbjW Source- original post Read all my posts #MariusPreston

Steel From ‘Green’ Hydrogen Cannot Compete with Coal-based Steel "The technology of hydrogen-based steelmaking is still in its infancy" The benefits of #hydrogen-based #steel go beyond #carbon #emissions ING calculations focus on the carbon impact of steel production, as #CO2 is the root cause of global warming. However, hydrogen-based steel production comes with important additional benefits. Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs), which may include lead or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PACs), nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM10), and odour are also reduced and there might be less noise involved. This leads to an improved living environment and greatly reduces the negative impact on both the environment and local communities. So, it's clear that both CCS and hydrogen can both play a role in greening the hard-to-abate steel sector and stimulate progress on the pathway to net zero emissions. Hydrogen even comes with benefits that go beyond the reduction of carbon emissions. The necessary condition is that the required hydrogen is produced with few carbon emissions, with blue or ‘truly green’ hydrogen. One obvious question then remains: why hasn’t it already happened? The answer is pretty simple: the technology of hydrogen-based steelmaking is still in its infancy. Swedish steel maker #SSAB was the first company to produce hydrogen-based steel in 2018. Today, there are only a handful of small pilot projects available worldwide. The production of hydrogen is very energy intensive, even with mature technology, and hydrogen-based steel is about twice as expensive as coal-based steel as a result. *Costs are calculated from a European perspective and based on the following assumptions. Hydrogen costs are calculated based on a gas price of €45/MWh, a power price of €110/MWh for the gas-based grid (benchmark), €99/MWh for the coal-based grid (-10%) and €88/MWh for the renewables-based grid (-20%). Power price differences are based on actual power prices for the countries mentioned from 2015-2023. Electrolyser efficiency is set at 70% with a 95% capacity factor. This yields green hydrogen prices of roughly €6.00/kg, €5.50/kg and €5.00/kg respectively. We’ve used a CO2 price of €85/ton and assume that all CO2 is taxed (no free allowances). Gas and carbon prices result in grey hydrogen costs of €2.40/kg and blue hydrogen costs of €2.55/kg. The coal and oil price are set at $100/ton and $75/barrel with an exchange rate of 1$=0.93€ and iron ore pellets cost €110/ton. Note that this represents spot and future prices (for 2023) in the Northwest European energy market as of early June 2023. We have applied a CCS capture rate of 85% for blue hydrogen and 80% for coal-based steel production in blast furnaces. The discount rate is set at 8%, inflation on operational expenses (OPEX) at 3%... Read full ING Report 👇 https://lnkd.in/dZbF3ziZ