In its march towards a carbon-neutral future, Volvo Automobiles is concentrating on how its metal is made. Its hope: To undertake a brand new “inexperienced metal” that guarantees to get rid of the necessity for coking coal in its manufacturing course of.
If the thought works, it might take a major chew out of the CO2 within the automaker’s provide chain.
The metal trade is among the many three greatest producers of carbon dioxide as a result of the trade is dominated by an iron ore-based steel- making know-how that makes use of blast furnaces that depend upon coking coal.
Each ton of metal produced in 2018 emitted on common 1.85 tons of carbon dioxide, equal to about 8 p.c of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, in response to the World Metal Affiliation. That’s the reason Volvo seeks to implement a course of that would get rid of the usage of coking coal — a serious pollutant in metal making.
The Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Know-how, or Hybrit — developed by steelmaker SSAB, iron ore producer LKAB and vitality firm Vattenfall — replaces coking coal with hydrogen.
Historically, oxygen is extracted from iron ore utilizing coal to derive pure iron, an important ingredient in making metal. However that high-energy course of emits carbon dioxide.
The Hybrit system as a substitute makes use of electrical energy generated from renewables to create hydrogen from water through electrolysis. The hydrogen is then used to take away the oxygen from the ore. The byproduct: water, not greenhouse emissions.
Making main metal usually produces about 1.9 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of fabric, stated Simon Buckingham, technical skilled in metallic supplies at Volvo Automobiles.
“These C02 emissions can be principally eradicated utilizing hydrogen,” he stated.
Fossil-free metal might assist Volvo’s efforts to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by 40 p.c by 2025 and change into carbon impartial by 2040.
Metal makes up about 54 p.c of the typical automobile, in response to the American Iron and Metal Institute.
Of the whole carbon dioxide emissions from the fabric and parts that go into Volvo’s vehicles, about 35 p.c come from creating the metal and iron wanted for a gasoline-powered mannequin. That quantity drops to twenty p.c in a full-electric automobile.
Volvo estimates that by switching to fossil-free metal, it’ll considerably scale back these numbers.
“For us to have alternatives to ship on our local weather motion ambitions, we have to deal with emissions round these uncooked supplies,” Buckingham stated. “We make vehicles, however we don’t make metal. So the collaboration with our provide chain is essential as an enabler.”
Volvo will start testing metal constructed from hydrogen-reduced iron as early as this yr, with the goal to construct business automobiles with fossil-free metal doubtlessly in 2026.
The automaker expects fossil-free metal to carry out much like standard metal.
Volvo is working with SSAB to grasp how the fabric performs by way of sturdiness and to make sure compatibility with the automaker’s manufacturing processes, Buckingham stated.
However Volvo is not the one automaker to point out curiosity in inexperienced metal. This month, Mercedes-Benz introduced a partnership with SSAB on the brand new know-how.
With its early backing of fossil-free metal, Volvo hopes to generate curiosity from extra automakers.
“We as an OEM are attempting to ship a transparent sign to the market that there’s a sturdy demand for these merchandise,” Buckingham stated, “and to tug the market with us in order that we will have a number of suppliers in all of the areas that we function to have the ability to ship decrease CO2-intensity merchandise.”