---
title: "Steel Is A Huge Polluter. New Technologies Could Make it Green."
description: "REAL STEEL The world is on track to produce a staggering 1.6 billion tons of steel this year, used to construct everything from cars to skyscrapers. The environmental cost, though, is enormous: together, the iron and steel industries account for 5 percent of the planet's total carbon emissions, according to a recent study in Science. That's why researchers..."
date: "2018-09-24"
modified: "2018-09-24"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/steel-pollution-technologies"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "boston metal"
  - "green steel"
  - "tata steel"
  - "the digest"
---

# Steel Is A Huge Polluter. New Technologies Could Make it Green.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/steel-pollution-technologies1.png>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://stock.adobe.com/images/steel-foundry/141752877?prev_url=detail" target="\_blank"\>Adobe Stock\</a\>\</em\>*

## REAL STEEL

The world is [on track to produce](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-steel-demand/worldsteel-raises-forecast-for-2018-global-steel-demand-growth-to-1-8-percent-idUSKBN1HO1DY>) a staggering 1.6 billion tons of steel this year, used to construct everything from cars to skyscrapers. The environmental cost, though, is enormous: together, the iron and steel industries account for 5 percent of the planet's total carbon emissions, according to a [recent study](<http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6396/eaas9793/tab-figures-data>) in *Science.*

That's why researchers are racing to find a practical way to produce steel with less waste. On Monday, for instance, the *MIT Tech Review* [reported that](<https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611961/this-mit-spinout-could-finally-clean-up-steel-one-of-the-globes-biggest-climate-polluters/>) a startup called Boston Metal plans to open a steelmaking facility in Massachusetts.

Its purpose: to prove that a greener process could clean up the industry.

## KING COAL

To make the "intermediate metal" that gets turned into steel, metal workers combine iron oxide and a coal derivative called coke. Doing so releases large amounts of carbon dioxide.

But Boston Metal, which spun out of MIT, is working on an [alternative process](<https://bostonmetal.com/moe-technology/>) called "molten oxide electrolysis" that the company says cuts coal out of the equation. Its inputs are iron ore and electricity — which could be provided by renewables — and its outputs are oxygen and a ferroalloy, a material that is then made into steel.

## CHARCOAL SKETCH

Boston Metal isn't the only company working to make steelmaking clean. There's also Tata Steel, an Indian steelmaker that [recently demonstrated](<https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/steel/tata-steel-unveils-sustainable-steel-production-technology-in-europe/articleshow/65706660.cms>) a technology that still uses coal, but in a more frugal process that it says could cut the process' carbon dioxide output in half.

And the Australian government is [working with steelmaking companies](<https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/MRF/Areas/Community-and-environment/Responsible-resource-development/Green-steelmaking>) to develop a steelmaking technique that relies on charcoal instead of coal, and recaptures the energy in waste heat, which could cut emissions and water use substantially.

Civilization is hungry for the trains, ships, cars and skyscrapers that keep it humming along. To arrive at a sustainable future, we'll need to find a way to make that process green.

**READ MORE:** This MIT spinout could finally clean up steel, one of the globe’s biggest climate polluters \[[*MIT Technology Review*](<https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611961/this-mit-spinout-could-finally-clean-up-steel-one-of-the-globes-biggest-climate-polluters/>)\]

***More on green building materials: [Scientists Invent a New Steel as Strong as Titanium](<https://futurism.com/scientists-invent-a-new-steel-as-strong-as-titanium>)***

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)