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On a strip of land in northern Sweden, not far from the Arctic Circle, a new facility taking shape could help revolutionize one of the planet's dirtiest industries: steelmaking.
By 2026, if all goes to plan, the site just outside Boden will be filled with industrial buildings painted white, silver and black – colors to reflect the region's mountains and lakes – and huge, brick-red towers.
This complex will be the world's first large-scale "green steel" project, according to H2 Green Steel, the Swedish company behind the multibillion-dollar mill.
Instead of burning coal, it will use "green hydrogen" produced with renewable electricity. The company says its process will cut carbon pollution by 95% compared to traditional steelmaking, and is aiming to produce 5 million metric tons of green steel by 2030.
It will mark another step toward overhauling the steel sector, but the path to cleaning up this polluting industry is a challenging one.
Steel is one of the world's most commonly used materials, critical for everything from buildings, bridges, cars and fridges to renewable energy infrastructure like wind turbines. The world consumes a huge amount – nearly 2 billion metric tons each year. The problem is steelmaking is incredibly energy-hungry and remains heavily reliant on coal, the most polluting fossil fuel.
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📸: Mikael Sjoberg/Bloomberg/Getty Images | Peter Boer/Bloomberg/Getty Images | Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency/AFP/Getty Images | Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images | CNN
