23 Nov 2020

Big Investment in Carbon Dioxide-Free Steel

400 billion SEK over 20 years is the investment being made by the state-owned mining company LKAB. A strategy to make the whole production line carbon dioxide-free till 2045. It is one of the biggest investments in Sweden.

Through hydrogen-based technology, LKAB will transition from an iron pellets to producing iron sponges, a refined, carbon dioxide-free product with high levels of irons.

- This is the biggest transition in the 130-year history of the company and can be the biggest industrial investment in Sweden. It creates unique possibilities to reduce the carbon dioxide of the world and for Swedish industry to take the lead in a necessary global transition, says Jan Moström, CEO at LKAB. 

LKAB currently accounts for four percent of the total emissions from the industry and is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in Sweden. Switching to a production were both the production and product become carbon dioxide-free will significantly recuse emissions.

Hydrogen to Replace the Coal

To continue building a climate-smart society, the steel needs to be produced without coal. Together with Vattenfall and SSAB, LKAB are running the project Hybrit which is testing the usage of hydrogen instead of coal when producing steel. Hydrogen is an efficient gas that forms water instead of carbon dioxide when it binds oxygen. Switching coal to hydrogen thus reduces carbon dioxide emissions. 

Reduced Emission

The iron and steel industry accounts for approximately 25 percent of total emissions globally. Through this investment, LKAB wants to achieve two things, partly within the company with security and safety for investments in iron ore mines, changes in product range and a big reduction of carbon dioxide emissions (corresponding to 2/3 of Sweden's total emissions) and partly show that it is technically and environmentally possible to implement. This can guide the iron and steel industry to make corresponding adjustments. LKAB goes from being a part of the problem to being a part of the solution for a sustainable society.

Read more about LKAB here!

Photo: G. Rúnar Gudmundsson/ Alm & ME