Green steel

Green steel

China is winning on renewables. Will it win on green steel, too?

While the U.S. backtracks on green steel commitments, Chinese companies are starting to make iron with hydrogen. One just made its first export deal to Europe.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 15 August 2025
Green steel

America’s biggest solar-powered steel mill has a new owner

Rocky Mountain Steel gets most of its electricity from a 300-MW solar project in Colorado. A private-equity firm is acquiring the steel mill’s owner in a $500M deal.

By Maria Gallucci . 16 July 2025
Green steel

Cleaner ironmaking tech a bright spot as US firms retreat from green steel

Most steelmakers rely on iron from polluting coal-fired blast furnaces. But exploding demand for “direct reduced iron” promises to slash the industry’s emissions.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 24 June 2025
Green steel

Major US steel company backs away from plan to make green steel

Cleveland-Cliffs was going to outfit an Ohio plant with pollution-reducing tech. Now, to align with Trump’s priorities, the firm is turning back to fossil fuels.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 17 June 2025
Clean industry

This startup turns steel and aluminum waste into usable metals

Chicago-area Sun Metalon removes gunk and grime from metal slivers normally thrown away, helping to reduce emissions from aluminum and steel production.

By Kari Lydersen . 9 June 2025
Green steel

Boston Metal forges path to commercialization for green steel process

Amid industry setbacks and federal funding losses, the company, which makes green steel without burning fossil fuels, has a robust plan for moving ahead.

By Sarah Shemkus . 5 June 2025
Green steel

Trump touts US Steel-Nippon Steel deal that could result in more coal

The Japanese steelmaker has pledged to extend the life of U.S. Steel’s dirty blast furnaces if Trump greenlights a deal, potentially locking in decades of pollution.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 2 June 2025
Green steel

Chart: US steelmaking is slowly getting cleaner

None of the new steel and ironmaking capacity planned for the U.S. is coal-fired — but old, dirty units aren’t going anywhere, either.

By Dan McCarthy . 30 May 2025
Clean industry

How states can pick up the slack on industrial decarbonization

States can’t replace the billions in funding the Trump administration is trying to claw back, but they have options for keeping up momentum on cleaning up industry.

By Jeff St. John . 22 May 2025
Fossil fuels

Some of the most polluted US cities are home to coal-based steel plants

Seven factories still use blast furnaces — and worsen pollution in the cities they are located, according to an analysis by climate research group Industrious Labs.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 21 May 2025