Government funding supports decarbonization in steelmaking

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) initiative, has announced up to $35 million in funding to support a new program to enable zero-process-emission ironmaking and ultra-low life cycle emissions steelmaking, goals outlined by the Biden-Harris administration in addition to reducing imports of iron and steel products.

The Revolutionizing Ore to Steel to Impact Emissions (ROSIE) program is managed by ARPA and seeks to “revolutionize” iron or steelmaking process and the entire supply chain from ore to final steel production, the DOE says.

ROSIE seeks to fund the development and demonstration of novel technologies that produce iron-based products from iron-containing ores and alternative feedstocks without process emissions in the ironmaking step. Technologies funded through ROSIE must have the potential to achieve milestones including:

• cost parity with existing iron or steel products;
• zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions specifically from the ironmaking process;
• ultra-low life cycle GHG emissions emitted per ton of iron or steel product;  
• process and product scalability; and
• materials properties consistent with relevant current commercial products.

“Where there are challenges, ARPA-E sees opportunities,” says ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang. “So, it should come as no surprise that since iron and steel production are widely recognized as among the most difficult industrial sectors to decarbonize, that’s where ARPA-E will direct our attention.”

She adds, “ROSIE will contribute to meeting U.S. net-zero goals, as well as secure U.S. technical leadership in a critical manufacturing discipline and increase exportable technology for low-emissions iron and steelmaking.”

The iron and steel industry accounts for approximately 7 percent of global GHG emissions and 11 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the DOE says. By 2050, global iron and steel demand is projected to rise as much as 40 percent. Current blast furnace technologies—responsible for approximately 70 percent of global iron and steel GHG emissions—require carbon, which makes this sector particularly difficult to decarbonize. The U.S., however, produced roughly 70 percent of its steel via electric arc furnaces in 2021, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington, compared with nearly 29 percent globally, putting the U.S. ahead of other countries in terms of steel decarbonization goals.

If successful, novel ironmaking technologies meeting the metrics set forth by ROSIE will enable a reduction of U.S. emissions by more than 65 metric tons of CO2 emitted annually (approximately 1 percent of U.S. emissions) and global emissions by more than 2.9 gigatons annually (5.5 percent of global emissions).

Information on how to apply for funding is available at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdafd386ba-34a0-45eb-bea4-849ec453c585.