* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Florida Highwaymen movie ‘Legends of the Highway’ based on original 26 Black artists – Treasure Coast News

    Unveiling ‘Legends of the Highway’: A Captivating Film Celebrating the Legacy of Florida’s Original 26 Black Artists

    Alabama to expand Entertainment Industry Incentive Act – WVTM

    Alabama Boosts Entertainment Industry with Expanded Incentive Act!

    Toast Sets Its Sights on Revolutionizing Entertainment Venues

    Eva Dickerman Joins Entertainment 360 As Partner – Deadline

    Eva Dickerman Takes the Spotlight as New Partner at Entertainment 360!

    Avid Appoints Act Entertainment as U.S. Distributor for Its Live Sound Portfolio – TVTechnology

    Avid Teams Up with Act Entertainment to Bring Live Sound Innovations to the U.S. Market!

    Rambo Origin Movie in the Works, First Plot Details Revealed – Yahoo

    Get Ready for Action: Exciting Plot Details Unveiled for the Upcoming Rambo Origin Movie!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Philly police unveil strategy to crack down on car meetups utilizing technology – NBC10 Philadelphia

    Philly Police Launch High-Tech Strategy to Tackle Car Meetups!

    Stony Brook Medicine Pioneers Use of AI Technology for Heart Disease Diagnosis on Long Island – SBU News

    Revolutionizing Heart Health: Stony Brook Medicine Leads the Way with AI Technology

    How to Clean Up and Restore Low-Quality Videos with AI Technology – finehomesandliving.com

    How to Clean Up and Restore Low-Quality Videos with AI Technology – finehomesandliving.com

    Opening kids’ eyes to the wonders of Information and Communication Technology at EBU Girls in ICT Day 2025 – EBU tech

    Unleashing Curiosity: Exploring the Magic of Information and Communication Technology at EBU Girls in ICT Day 2025!

    Senate confirm Meink, an aerospace engineer, as USAF Secretary – Air Force Technology

    Senate Approves Aerospace Engineer Meink as New Secretary of the Air Force!

    ‘Technology is always key’: Alachua County Sheriff’s Office plans new ‘Crime Intelligence Center’ – WCJB TV20

    Unlocking Safety: Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Unveils Innovative ‘Crime Intelligence Center

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Florida Highwaymen movie ‘Legends of the Highway’ based on original 26 Black artists – Treasure Coast News

    Unveiling ‘Legends of the Highway’: A Captivating Film Celebrating the Legacy of Florida’s Original 26 Black Artists

    Alabama to expand Entertainment Industry Incentive Act – WVTM

    Alabama Boosts Entertainment Industry with Expanded Incentive Act!

    Toast Sets Its Sights on Revolutionizing Entertainment Venues

    Eva Dickerman Joins Entertainment 360 As Partner – Deadline

    Eva Dickerman Takes the Spotlight as New Partner at Entertainment 360!

    Avid Appoints Act Entertainment as U.S. Distributor for Its Live Sound Portfolio – TVTechnology

    Avid Teams Up with Act Entertainment to Bring Live Sound Innovations to the U.S. Market!

    Rambo Origin Movie in the Works, First Plot Details Revealed – Yahoo

    Get Ready for Action: Exciting Plot Details Unveiled for the Upcoming Rambo Origin Movie!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Philly police unveil strategy to crack down on car meetups utilizing technology – NBC10 Philadelphia

    Philly Police Launch High-Tech Strategy to Tackle Car Meetups!

    Stony Brook Medicine Pioneers Use of AI Technology for Heart Disease Diagnosis on Long Island – SBU News

    Revolutionizing Heart Health: Stony Brook Medicine Leads the Way with AI Technology

    How to Clean Up and Restore Low-Quality Videos with AI Technology – finehomesandliving.com

    How to Clean Up and Restore Low-Quality Videos with AI Technology – finehomesandliving.com

    Opening kids’ eyes to the wonders of Information and Communication Technology at EBU Girls in ICT Day 2025 – EBU tech

    Unleashing Curiosity: Exploring the Magic of Information and Communication Technology at EBU Girls in ICT Day 2025!

    Senate confirm Meink, an aerospace engineer, as USAF Secretary – Air Force Technology

    Senate Approves Aerospace Engineer Meink as New Secretary of the Air Force!

    ‘Technology is always key’: Alachua County Sheriff’s Office plans new ‘Crime Intelligence Center’ – WCJB TV20

    Unlocking Safety: Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Unveils Innovative ‘Crime Intelligence Center

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home General

On Minnesota’s Iron Range, producers explore hydrogen fuel to reduce emissions

December 28, 2023
in General
On Minnesota’s Iron Range, producers explore hydrogen fuel to reduce emissions
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The following story was produced by Energy News Network in collaboration with KAXE/KBXE, an independent, nonprofit community radio station in northern Minnesota. 

The leader of a regional hydrogen partnership is exploring using the emerging fuel source to help make Minnesota’s Iron Range a leader in the production of green steel. 

“Yes, certainly it has great potential,” said Tom Erickson, president and chief operating officer of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, one of seven regional projects recently funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to kickstart hydrogen fuel production. “The first obvious use of hydrogen within the taconite (mining) industry is just to produce electricity.”   

The U.S. government is investing billions to develop regional hydrogen production hubs, intended to spur the infrastructure needed to increase the supply and lower the cost enough to make it commercially viable.  

Hydrogen emits only water vapor and warm air when burned, but it’s typically produced from natural gas in a process that creates high greenhouse gas emissions. The Heartland Hydrogen Hub will use renewable energy and nuclear power to try to reduce the climate impact, as well as the price tag.  

The initial focus will be on supplying hydrogen for ammonia fertilizer, but Erickson said the same output could also replace more carbon-intensive fuels used to heat and power taconite mining operations on the Iron Range.  

“That industry uses a lot of natural gas for heat and thermal systems, for producing the pellets,” Erickson said. “You’d have to design (the systems) quite a bit differently, but you could certainly add some hydrogen power to that and decrease the emissions from that standpoint.” 

Manipulating molecules 

The most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen has historically been difficult to harness into energy. The Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 is an infamous example that demonstrates hydrogen’s explosive qualities. 

“You can’t mine it. You can’t stick a pipe in the ground, then bring hydrogen up. You have to produce it from something else. It’s the smallest molecule, the hardest one to trap,” Erickson explained. “It’s the hardest one to move around once you’ve produced it, so we have some things that we need to get over and get behind coming up with new innovative ideas to really bring the costs down.” 

Most commercial hydrogen is produced today by separating the hydrogen atoms from methane under high heat and pressure, with many industrial facilities using natural gas as the methane source. This method produces hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a relatively small amount of carbon dioxide.

It turns out that Minnesota is highly competitive for making green iron and steel, beyond other states in the country.

Electrolysis splits hydrogen from water using an electric current. This method does not create any byproducts or emissions other than oxygen and hydrogen. It is the primary focus of the Department of Energy’s investment into hydrogen energy. 

The Heartland Hydrogen Hub’s projects are expected to reduce carbon emissions by roughly 1 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of 220,000 gasoline-powered cars. 

Erickson — who is also the director of exploratory research at University of North Dakota — said infrastructure for hydrogen’s use on a wider scale is in the future. 

“Shipping — whether it’s trains or whether it’s ships moving large quantities of oil around — they are even bigger targets,” he said. “Maybe even a little bit easier targets for application of the hydrogen fuel.” 

Erickson, whose grandfather and numerous other relatives worked in the taconite mines on the Iron Range, said technology to produce higher quality taconite pellets has been studied in Keewatin, where U.S. Steel plans to invest $150 million in a new higher-grade taconite plant. 

“Folks on the Range have looked at (higher grade taconite pellets) produced from natural gas, from coal derived gases and of course from hydrogen,” Erickson said. 

The Heartland Hydrogen Hub is currently in the concept development phase, and Erickson said he is excited for the advancing technology in energy for the future. 

“What I’m most excited about is to start to see larger scale production of hydrogen,” he said. “Once we start producing it, we can start to find other ways to utilize the things that advantage society, different ways that we can manipulate the molecule …. to provide clean, reliable and sustainable energy.”  

Feeling the heat 

Steel is made using a lot of heat, and coal-powered blast furnaces are still used for 57 percent of global steelmaking capacity. That’s a decrease from the year before, when 67 percent of the world’s steel capacity was made using blast furnaces — marking a shift toward electric arc furnace technology worldwide. 

The Iron Range supplies three-fourths of the country’s iron ore, from which steel is made. Steelmakers such as U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs, which own the mining operations on the Iron Range, are seeing growing pressure from governments, investors, and customers to reduce their climate emissions. It’s not just the potential for future environmental regulations. More companies are willing to pay a premium for steel that comes with a smaller carbon footprint.  

Cutting emissions from mining and other heavy industry is expected to be a bigger challenge than cleaning up cars or power plants. That’s because of the need to power massive furnaces and other equipment for which electric alternatives aren’t widely available.  

These factors are leading many manufacturers to explore the potential of hydrogen fuel. Cleveland-Cliffs, which owns and operates Hibbing Taconite, has already committed to funding a hydrogen power project at its Toledo plant. Without any modification to the plant, the company says it could replace up to 30 percent of natural gas consumption with hydrogen. And with equipment upgrades and other investments, this number could rise to 70 percent, accounting for 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year. 

Cleveland-Cliffs is also part of a federally funded hydrogen hub based in northern Indiana. In October, the company was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by more than one-third. 

The company didn’t respond to requests for comment on what its emission-cutting efforts might mean for northern Minnesota, but researcher Rolf Weberg said the state’s mining industry is well-positioned to make use of hydrogen fuel. 

“It turns out that Minnesota is by far highly competitive for making green iron and steel, beyond other states in the country,” said Weberg, the executive director of University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Natural Resource Research Institute. “We have essentially all of the resources, including infrastructure for future energy and access to water. All the things you need to have for a hydrogen-based approach to preparing green iron and steel.” 

Conversations around  the future of hydrogen energy are only just beginning. 

“Minnesota industry has been investing to prepare for this,” Weberg said. “It’s an exciting opportunity for Minnesota to embrace, and the conversation is just started. This is an opportunity to really lead the charge in this area, and also do it in tandem with green hydrogen and green steel.”  

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : GreenBiz – https://www.greenbiz.com/article/minnesotas-iron-range-producers-explore-hydrogen-fuel-reduce-emissions

Previous Post

Cotton has a waste problem: This startup says it can solve it

Next Post

Nigeria Firm Set to Supply Gas to South Africa

Report reveals alarming decline in U.S. bird populations, raising ecological concerns – San Antonio News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

May 17, 2025
First-of-its-kind video captures the terrifying moment the ground tore apart during major Myanmar earthquake – Live Science

Unprecedented Footage Reveals the Shocking Moment Ground Splits During Myanmar Earthquake

May 17, 2025
Syracuse Academy of Science 2025 junior senior prom: See 47 photos – Syracuse.com

Unforgettable Night: Explore 47 Stunning Photos from the Syracuse Academy of Science 2025 Junior-Senior Prom!

May 17, 2025
Rising Democrat star is blasted as a hypocrite after truth about her lifestyle emerges that’s VERY different t – Daily Mail

Rising Democrat Star Faces Backlash as Contradictions in Her Lifestyle Come to Light

May 17, 2025
Column: Employee ownership gave me and my husband the world • Current Publishing – Current Publishing

How Employee Ownership Transformed Our Lives: A Personal Journey

May 17, 2025
Japan’s Economy Shrinks for First Time in a Year – WSJ

Japan’s Economy Faces Setback: First Contraction in a Year

May 17, 2025
Florida Highwaymen movie ‘Legends of the Highway’ based on original 26 Black artists – Treasure Coast News

Unveiling ‘Legends of the Highway’: A Captivating Film Celebrating the Legacy of Florida’s Original 26 Black Artists

May 17, 2025
Denver restaurant owner supports mental health through local nonprofit partnership – CBS News

Denver Restaurant Owner Champions Mental Health with Local Nonprofit Collaboration

May 17, 2025
Trump Middle East business deals have tripled since first term – CNN

Trump’s Middle East Business Ventures Surge: A Threefold Increase Since His First Term!

May 17, 2025
Philly police unveil strategy to crack down on car meetups utilizing technology – NBC10 Philadelphia

Philly Police Launch High-Tech Strategy to Tackle Car Meetups!

May 17, 2025

Categories

Archives

May 2025
MTWTFSS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
« Apr    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (616)
  • Economy (628)
  • Entertainment (21,542)
  • General (15,223)
  • Health (9,670)
  • Lifestyle (633)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (632)
  • Politics (636)
  • Science (15,852)
  • Sports (21,138)
  • Technology (15,619)
  • World (618)

Recent News

Report reveals alarming decline in U.S. bird populations, raising ecological concerns – San Antonio News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

May 17, 2025
First-of-its-kind video captures the terrifying moment the ground tore apart during major Myanmar earthquake – Live Science

Unprecedented Footage Reveals the Shocking Moment Ground Splits During Myanmar Earthquake

May 17, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version