International steel company ArcelorMittal and Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund took part in a $120M investment round for Boston Metal, a startup that has developed a method to produce "clean steel."
The company was founded in 2013 by two MIT professors who developed a technique to produce steel with near-zero carbon emissions.
More:
- Boston Metal plans to use the new capital to expand production at its pilot facility in Massachusetts and to build a facility in Brazil.
- The company also aims to begin construction on a demonstration steel plant in 2024 and a commercial plant in 2026.
Here's How It Works:
- Boston Metal's process for producing "green steel" does not use coal-fired blast furnaces to combine iron ore and iron oxide, unlike traditional steel manufacturers.
- The company's Molten Oxide Electrolysis technology uses electricity to mix iron oxide, and several other oxides, like alumina, silica, calcium, and magnesium, into steel.
- The mix of oxides must be heated to 1,600 degrees Celsius, however, making the process extremely electricity intensive.
- For this process to be truly "green" it would have to rely mostly on renewable electricity.
- The iron and steel industries account for approximately 11% of global carbon emissions.
