The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is in a prime position to start producing carbon-neutral or green steel, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Report author Soroush Basirat said the MENA region – with its abundant solar power which can aid production of green hydrogen from renewable electricity – can lead the world if it shifts promptly to renewables and applies green hydrogen in its steel sector.
The region’s sector is dominated by direct reduced iron-electric arc furnace (DRI-EAF) technology, which releases lower emissions than the increasingly obsolete coal-fuelled blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) process used in 71% of global crude steel production in 2021.
Basirat says the DRI-EAF process, which uses syngas made from natural gas or gasified coal and also electricity, could be zero emissions if green hydrogen (produced using renewable energy-powered electrolysis) and electric arc furnaces powered by renewable energy were used.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
