Long one of the world’s most energy and emissions-intensive industries, the steel sector is slowly starting to embrace ways to become ‘green’.

Governments and businesses from Tokyo and Luleå (Sweden) to Brussels are vying to demonstrate that ‘green steel’ is not just feasible but also scalable. The objective is to make steel with as little negative impact (i.e. emissions) on the environment as possible.

Three of the flagship projects pioneering this new direction are HYBRIT in Sweden; Green Steel for Europe (EU); and COURSE50 (Japan). Each is influenced by their respective industrial tradition, regulatory incentives, and regional limitations.

While still in pilot phases, they collectively chart a path toward decarbonizing a sector responsible for roughly 7% of global CO2 emissions. All three approaches also share the common element of hydrogen as a central solution. But as they move from pilot to industrial scale, there are complexities to navigate. Can the national and regional steel sectors follow?