Climate Science and Policy

Steel production is a hard-to-abate, carbon intensive industry contributing 8-9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from an expanding steel industry is a necessary step to attaining net-zero goals and limiting the impacts of global climate change. To achieve this goal, alternative energy carriers capable of direct reduction, high-temperature combustion and zero direct greenhouse gas emissions are under research to replace coal and natural gas for steel production. A potential alternative to traditional fossil fuels is green hydrogen (H2), produced from water using renewable energy powered electrolysis. Currently, green H2 is expensive, but the cost is declining in tandem with declining renewable energy and electrolyzer costs. Forecasts estimate green H2 to play a progressively large role in international energy portfolios, with demand to grow and production costs to decline. Simultaneously, Section 813 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act supports the development of one or more green H2 hubs with a specific end-use focus: transportation, electricity generation, residential heating, or industry. As a major importer and recycler of steel, the U.S. can benefit from increasing domestic steelmaking capacity and implementing green H2 as an alternative energy carrier and reducing agent in steel production. To this end, a green H2 hub ought to be considered for demonstrating end-use in the industrial sector.