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There are potential alternatives to hydrogen DRI for decarbonizing the steel industry

Hydrogen direct reduction iron remains the most likely pathway for decarbonizing primary steel production, but other potential solutions may become more viable than hydrogen DRI. The leading alternative to hydrogen DRI for clean primary steel production is Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE), a process developed by the company Boston Metals that uses clean electricity to turn iron ore into liquid metal, bypassing many of the steps in conventional primary steel production.1 The only byproduct of the MOE process is oxygen.2 Boston Metals claims that its MOE technology will be ready for commercialization by 2026, but it remains to be seen if the technology will be competitive with either hydrogen DRI or traditional primary steel production.3

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Footnotes​

  1. Boston Metal. (n.d.) Decarbonizing Steelmaking for a Net-Zero Future. https://www.bostonmetal.com/green-steel-solution/ ↩

  2. Ibid. ↩

  3. Winn, Z. (2024, May 22). Making steel with electricity. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). https://news.mit.edu/2024/mit-spinout-boston-metal-makes-steel-with-electricity-0522 ↩