The steel industry has long been one of the most carbon-intensive in the world, with blast furnaces burning up huge quantities of fossil fuels.
But U.S. Steel is now saying it aims to become carbon neutral by 2050. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it hopes to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within three decades, including by "leveraging its growing fleet of electric arc furnaces," but stresses the technology needed to reach that goal isn't widely commercially available yet.
The steelmaker bought the modern mini-mill Big River Steel in Arkansas last year and is now pursuing what it calls "a best of both strategy" that utilizes both traditional blast furnaces, like those in the steel mills along the Lake Michigan shore, and newer mini-mills, which are far less carbon-intensive, as they're fueled by electricity instead of coking coal.