Ecostal
The Swedish company SSAB has supplied Volvo with the first batch of a new type of automotive steel – "green". The term is still unofficial, this material is also called "environmentally friendly steel", because when creating it, combustible fossils and the energy produced with their help are not used. There are also no emissions into the atmosphere during the production of eco-steel, which is very beneficial for both SSAB and Volvo. The first pledged to switch to carbon-free production by 2045, the second-by 2050.
To obtain such steel, SSAB completely abandoned blast furnaces and switched to electric arc furnaces that run on energy from renewable sources. Instead of coke and coal, hydrogen is used here as a reducing agent, which is obtained by electrolysis using the same "green energy". But the most interesting thing is the raw materials, iron ore. The company claims that it is obtained without the use of minerals, but does not explain how this is possible. SSAB clarifies that since there is no exact standard of "ecological steel" yet, they took the liberty to designate it. This is steel that is created without fossil fuels or fossil raw materials, is produced without CO2 emissions and with the use of renewable energy sources. And Volvo electric cars will be made of such steel, for which Sweden is going to build the world's largest eco-steel production plant by 2024. A separate topic is the price of such material. SSAB does not deny that the new steel is much more expensive than usual, but the exact price is not called. The current steel market is in a fever, prices are constantly rising, so experts do not undertake to estimate how much such an eco-metal can actually cost.
