Another MIT startup.
What do they want, to increase the cost of steel 10 fold? What are we to do, drive around in thatched roofed automobiles made of fronds and wattle?
Just say ‘Green” and make a bunch of money.
It is like “Organic”. You get to charge more for the same thing.
This message was “Carbon Free”.....
Let me know when they get ready to make Rearden Metal.
This is dumb and harebrained on steroids. Woburn is a nice suburb. Any pilot plant will have to be so small as to be meaningless. This is just a glorified science project. Called lets use lots of electricity to melt fairy non-conductive iron ore.
The people behind this know this is a useless demonstration project. But they are not going to turn down tens of millions in free Federal money.
‘...renewable electricity...’
is that AP bee-ess for solar panels?
that’s A(ll)P(ropaganda) style alright.
“expand production at a pilot plant in Woburn, near Boston, and help launch commercial production in Brazil.” So the real ork goes to Brazil because they will not have enough power in MA.
>> Massachusetts-based Boston Metal
LMFAO
More of the “consultant class” mopping up that Free Gubmint Money.
That will buy a lot of green paint!
“Instead of burning coal, their process runs electricity through iron ore in a metal box or “cell” the size of a school bus to separate the iron from the oxide.”
And most of the electricity comes from oil and coal. How stupid can people be. Once again.
No way I will live in something made that’s green. Would rather live in a building made with Chinese steel.
https://www.bostonmetal.com/green-steel-solution/
The process is electrolysis of iron oxide. It looks to be similar to the process used to reduce aluminum oxide to aluminum. Technically possible, but it would seem to make iron as expensive as aluminum based on electrical energy inputs.
Also, from the OA: “Offshore wind is key to many plans to address climate change, because it partially replaces fossil fuel-burning electricity. It will require massive amounts of steel as turbines are built miles offshore from U.S. coastlines. Nearly 90% of an offshore turbine’s weight is steel, and each one, including the foundation, requires roughly 180 tons of steel per megawatt, according to the industry group American Clean Power.”
I would be interesting to hear how many megawatt hours are needed to smelt 180 tons of steel using this process.
And in offshore wind, you are putting the iron back into an environment where it is rapidly reconverted back to iron oxide.
This is propaganda to ease leftist guilt.
How much is siphoned off to pay the consulting and referral fees?
...bribes... What is the accounting code for bribes?
1. “launch commercial production in Brazil” ... yep, america last again ...
2. this whole “uses renewable energy” mantra lately is a total scam ... claiming a specific use of “renewable energy” somehow makes that use “green” is complete bullshite ...
electric energy is fungible AND a zero-sum game ... any electricity produced that’s used for one thing, could have been used for something else ... example: renewable energy used to make steel doesn’t make the steel “green”, because that same energy COULD have been used to substitute non-renewable energy used for some other purpose, e.g., energizing residential households ...
They should move to Iceland:
Why Iceland? From what we know about the energy requirements for smelting aluminium, countries such as iceland that have untapped hydroelectric dam potential stand to be perfect contenders in the search for low cost electricity. When profit is your bottom line, lower input costs are what you seek. There are currently 3 operating aluminium smelters in Iceland. As much of the world’s bauxite is refined into alumina in other countries, Iceland smelts solely the alumina into aluminium rectifying the problem of red mud waste on Icelandic ground. (Iceland would not have the comparative advantage in refining, as refining is not energy intensive as is smelting) In 2010, Iceland only contributed about 2% of the world’s aluminium smelting production (780 thousand metric tons).
“Green” now means “SCAM”
The only renewable electricity is when you tap into the building next door.