An MIT-startup has developed a breakthrough method to produce steel commercially using electricity instead of carbon-heavy blast furnaces to commence the beginning of decarbonization in a significantly carbon-intensive industries.
Boston Steel’s industrial-scale production facility can make a ton of steel per month using a molten oxide electrolysis (MOE). However, if powered by renewable energy, it would make the process a carbon-neutral one as MOE produces oxygen, instead of CO2, as emissions. Producing 2 billion tons of steel annually emits 3 billion tons of CO2, that is, 8% of global emissions. Reports show that without cleaner production, climate efforts may fail. Experts warn that without radical decarbonisation in heavy industries like steel and concrete, global climate targets could become unattainable.
Boston Steel was founded in 2013 to scale up and eventually commercialize MOE, a process developed at MIT. Inside Boston Steel’s industrial facility, MOE’s system utilizes multi-anode reactors that pass electric currents through iron ore-filled chambers. This process generates intense heat up to 2,900°F – hot enough to liquefy the iron – while completely avoiding the carbon emissions of traditional blast furnaces.
Boston Metal successfully launched its industrial-scale reactor in January. After weeks of continuous operation, the company achieved its first major output on February 17 – extracting approximately one ton of molten iron from the system. MIT Tech Review states that Boston Steel’s efforts note that solar, wind, or nuclear is required for the process to make the process decarbonised. However, considering the larger output, nuclear would be the only viable power source for the kinds of green steel production needed to push out blast furnaces while producing billions of tons per annum.
After 12 years of development, Boston Steel acknowledges that producing 1 ton of steel per month is not economically viable. Instead, the company plans to launch a larger demonstration plant capable of producing 1 ton per day by late 2026, with operations set to begin in 2027. At that point, the firm believes it will be ready to license its technology to manufacturers.