A new process is turning zero-carbon iron into low-emission steel

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Breaking from tradition

Since Nucor entered the steel business more than 50 years ago, sustainability has been a foundation of its operations. Nucor is a leading pioneer in the use of electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, a circular process that recycles scrap metal into new steel products.

As a result, Nucor is among the cleanest steel producers in the world with an emissions intensity that is less than one-third the global average of extractive steelmaking methods using blast furnaces for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, and 20 years ahead of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C scenario.

Still, Nucor is striving to reduce the carbon footprint of our steelmaking even further, in line with our net-zero, science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) targets for 2050, which include Scopes 1, 2 and 3.

While Nucor steel averages 75% recycled content, other inputs into our steelmaking including iron (e.g., direct reduced iron and pig iron) account for a significant share of our own indirect emissions.

Project Highlights

Partner
Electra
Product
Zero-carbon iron
Features
- Powered by 100% renewable energy
- Relies on abundant ores and waste products rather than scarce materials
- Process runs no hotter than a cup of coffee
- Can dramatically reduce steelmaking Scope 3 emissions

Turning less into more

Nucor has established multi-disciplinary teams to investigate technologies and operational adjustments we can deploy to further reduce the GHG intensity of our production processes.

One such exploration with a Nucor customer and partner led us to Electra, a green iron company pioneering a carbon-free process that can rely exclusively on renewable electricity to convert low-grade iron ores into high-purity iron at temperatures no hotter than a cup of coffee.¹

Steelmakers can replace higher-emission inputs with Electra’s zero carbon iron, minimizing hard-to-abate indirect emissions. Consequently, steel used in cars, bridges, solar panels, and other applications would have considerably lower embodied carbon content compared to other alternatives. In addition, Electra’s process uses low-cost, abundant ores, which are commonly treated as waste today, reducing demand for those high-purity natural resources that are increasingly scarce.

Video of Electra's electrochemical refinement process; courtesy of Electra

Just as Nucor changed the face of the steel industry 53 years ago with our first electric arc furnace, successfully developing and scaling up a zero-carbon iron product is the type of transformative technology that could change the steel industry as we know it.

Leon Topalian,
Chief Executive Officer of Nucor Corporation

In 2022, Nucor made a strategic investment in Electra and Doug Jellison, Nucor’s Executive Vice President of Raw Materials joined Electra's market advisory board in order to help scale the startup’s innovative iron refining process.

When paired with Nucor’s EAF technology, Electra's green iron presents a unique opportunity to dramatically decarbonize our own operations and those of the steelmaking industry at large.

Electra’s technology operates at 60°C and removes critical impurities from low-grade ores to produce high purity, gangue-free iron metal that can be charged directly into EAF steelmaking.

That’s 96% cooler than the typical process.

1. Electra: Low-Temperature Iron With Zero Carbon Emissions