A coke plant at the Jones and Laughlin steel works in Struthers, Ohio, near Youngstown, is wreathed in smoke and steam in a September 1980 file photo as many of the area's steel plants were shuttering. In a guest column today, former Weirton Steel chemist Randi Pokladnik criticizes talk of "green steel" as a replacement in Ohio for carbon-emitting traditional coking plants and blast furnaces when, she writes, the "blue hydrogen" technology, as currently envisioned, would rely on untested carbon capture and non-renewable energy sources. (AP Photo/Madeline Drexler)AP
UHRICHSVILLE, Ohio -- I remember a time when steel manufacturing was king in the Ohio River Valley. The communities along the river were economically supported by many steel-making facilities, including Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, U.S. Steel, and Weirton Steel. In the 1970s, over 13,000 people worked at Weirton Steel alone. curved pathwalk
Entire families and multiple generations made a living working at the local steel mills. My family was no exception. My grandmother worked in the tin mill; my dad was a millwright on a blast furnace; my brother ran a crane in the mill; my sister and I were both chemists; and my uncle worked at the Browns Island coke plant. During the construction of this plant, on Dec. 15, 1972, there was an explosion that killed 19 men; one was our next-door neighbor. The explosion shook our home in Toronto, Ohio, which was located less than two miles from the coke plant.
Coke, a porous carbon-rich substance, is made by heating coal to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit in a “coke oven battery” which resembles a huge oven. The coke produced is used in the reduction phase of iron oxides in steel. It also serves as a fuel source. The carbon footprint of coke is twofold. The coal must be heated to create the coke. This releases carbon emissions. Then the coke, iron ore, and limestone are heated in the blast furnace, creating more carbon dioxide. Additionally, the coking process also releases carcinogenic, volatile organic hydrocarbons and particulate matter. For years, coke plant emissions polluted the air of our community.
“Green steel,” which eliminates the “coke phase” in the steel-making process, will curtail most of the carcinogenic hydrocarbon emissions as well as carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Steel production currently creates about 7% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But several issues must be acknowledged before believing that Ohio can ever produce “green steel.”
The first issue is to accurately define green steel. Green steel uses green hydrogen to replace coke in the reduction phase. Green hydrogen is obtained by splitting water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen using a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. Renewable energy is also needed to complete the second phase of steel-making which requires an electric arc furnace.
Where will that renewable energy come from when Ohio politicians have continually blocked renewable energy in the state? Many regulations have been passed favoring fossil fuels over solar and wind power, including Senate Bill 52 of 2021 and House Bill 6 of 2019. Ohio as of 2022 produced only 4% of its electricity using renewable energy. In Pennsylvania, it’s only 3%; and in West Virginia, about 7%.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $7 billion to seven regional hydrogen hubs, explaining that the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH II) will help produce steel using blue hydrogen. Blue hydrogen is made by steam methane formation. It relies on fracked methane molecules to supply the hydrogen atoms. It also relies on using carbon capture technology; a technology that has not been proven to be effective, safe, or affordable.
This means Southeast Ohio will be locked into decades of more gas fracking, and more destruction of our public lands and parks, front-line communities, and the environment. This steel will not be green or environmentally benign.
Randi Pokladnik, a retired Weirton Steel research chemist with a Ph.D. in environmental studies, is a lifelong resident of the Ohio River Valley.Courtesy of Randi Pokladnik
I live in a fracked county of Ohio and can vouch for the destruction this extractive process has brought to our rural communities. Drilling and fracking, pipelines, compressor stations, water withdrawals, and injection wells are polluting our air, land, and water, and poisoning our communities.
Claiming that steel is clean if produced with blue hydrogen is basically an industry-backed lie. Why are we investing more taxpayer dollars into a questionable process like carbon capture? ARCH II will only continue the escalation of the climate crisis. Ohio citizens deserve the truth.
Randi Pokladnik, a lifelong resident of the Ohio River Valley and a retired Weirton Steel research chemist, has a Ph.D. in environmental studies.
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