Why? Even if you are pro-fossil, natural gas is cheaper and abundant in the US.
Because anti-woke pandering.
That and also pandering to coal miners.
Here is my suggestion instead.
Stop using coal for pure power, it is way better used in heritage steam locomotives and steelmaking.
Stop using coal
for pure power, it is way better used in heritage steam locomotives and steelmakingFixed it for you. There’s no necessary use for burning coal that doesn’t have a better alternative.
Steam locomotives does not have a better alternative, it is part of the historical experience.
There are also relatively few steam locomotives in use world wide, their impact is quite limited.
Also to make carbon steel, you need to use coal.
Steam locomotives does not have a better alternative, it is part of the historical experience.
That’s just not true
There are also relatively few steam locomotives in use world wide, their impact is quite limited.
That also makes it easier to replace the fuel in all of them.
Also to make carbon steel, you need to use coal.
Sure, to make CARBON steel, you obviously need carbon. However, you do NOT need to make carbon steel since alternatives DO exist.
TL; DR: Your “coal is necessary for anything” conclusion is decades behind modern technology.
You should probably get with the times, lest you become a fossil yourself 😉
Carbon steel is very much needed in a lot of places. It is harder than mild steel and is used in axles, gears, cutting tools etc.
SSAB HYBRIT technology replaces the usage of coal/coke in the iron reduction stage with hydrogen which is nice since it only produces water and not CO2. But I can’t find any information regarding the carbon content of the resulting sponge iron. If the carbon content is too low you still need to add elemental carbon in some form.
Found all the answers I was looking for. :)
The resulting sponge iron is 0% carbon meaning you need to add carbon in some form. The broschure mentions the use of either biocarbon or a small amount of natural gas. So no need for coal. Neat. :)