Des Moines Register:

SSAB Americas says it will produce steel at its Iowa mill without using fossil fuels beginning in 2026, making it the first North American supplier to reach that goal.

Key to the effort is new technology that produces steel using hydrogen and renewable energy that’s generated from wind farms in Iowa.

SSAB says its mill at Montpelier, about 14 miles northeast of Muscatine, is on track to be powered completely by renewable energy by 2022. It is partnering with MidAmerican Energy, which plans to produce green energy that’s equal to 100% of its customers’ power needs on an annual basis.

SSAB plants in Iowa and Alabama also will tap iron, a major ingredient in steel, that is produced in Sweden with a process using hydrogen and electric arc furnaces.

The Swedish-American company says the process, using technology SSAB developed with other partners in Sweden, produces water as a byproduct rather than carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

That will help the environment, SSAB says, since traditional steel production is the source of 7% of the carbon dioxide emissions globally.

[Donnelle Eller]

More: SSAB says it can make fossil-fuel-free steel in Iowa by 2026