Green steel

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
Green steel

Electra lands $186M to scale up its clean iron electrowinning process

Purifying iron ore is a key step in steelmaking — and a carbon-intensive one. Big steel and mining players are funding this startup’s all-electric tech to see if it can scale.

By Jeff St. John . 24 April 2025
Green steel

Hyundai to make ‘low-carbon’ steel at $6B plant in Louisiana

The automaker will use an electric arc furnace and potentially a fossil gas–based process at the new facility, eschewing traditional coal-centered methods.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 25 March 2025
Clean industry

Chart: Global clean industry investment fell sharply in 2024

Money to clean up steel, ammonia, chemicals, and other sectors dropped by more than half compared with 2023.

By Maria Gallucci . 14 February 2025
Green steel

SSAB quietly pulls out of $500M green steel award negotiations

The Swedish company sought to make iron using green hydrogen in Mississippi, as part of the Biden administration's $6B Industrial Demonstrations Program.

By Maria Gallucci . 14 January 2025
Green steel

The economic case for green steel production at a Michigan steel mill

Cleveland-Cliffs’ Dearborn Works blast furnace is due for relining in 2027. Advocates say now is the time to convert it to new technology powered by clean energy.

By Kari Lydersen . 19 November 2024
Green steel

Move over, data centers. US steel mills need lots of clean power too.

A new report quantifies just how much clean electricity the US steel industry will need to decarbonize — a task that could get even harder under Donald Trump.

By Maria Gallucci . 18 November 2024
Clean industry

Biden’s $6B bid to clean up heavy industry at risk under Trump

A federal program that aims to clean up 33 industrial facilities, from steel mills to snack plants, could face big cuts in Trump's second term.

By Maria Gallucci . 11 November 2024