Steel's Arctic Rebirth A Frozen Swedish region turns civilization's metal green

Photography and Text by Justin Jin

As the world grapples with the threat of climate change, steel production stands out as a particularly stubborn challenge. Responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions, the steel sector has long resisted efforts to decarbonize its operations. But in the frozen north of Sweden, the world’s first large-scale effort to make fossil-free steel is underway by using green hydrogen—a breakthrough that could slash Sweden’s carbon emissions by 10% -- and recycling.

At a traditional blast furnace plant in polar Sweden, workers inject carbon-enriched gas into molten iron, heated to 1,500°C. The steel industry, contributing 8% of global CO2 emissions, is one of the world’s most pollutive.

Sweden is pioneering a way to make steel using hydrogen as a reducing agent instead of coal.

This Swedish steel maker could be on the cusp of pioneering the use of hydrogen-based direct reduction to eliminate carbon emissions from its operations entirely. Gone would be the bulking blast furnaces and coal-fired processes of old. In their place, the company aims to construct the world's first "fossil-free sponge iron" plant and build a state-of-the-art emissions-free mini-mill. The result will be a 10% reduction in Sweden's overall carbon footprint.

To create emission-free iron, the mining company is shifting to electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles and utilities.

Workers breathe clean air inside the decarbonised mine.

Yet above ground, the Arctic mining town is threatened by a sinkhole, forcing the residents to migrate and further encroaching on the Sami Indigenous community.

These pellets, produced using hydrogen-based reduction, are a vital step in creating fossil-free steel.