Photo: SSAB
Instead of coal and coke, the Swedish company SSAB plans to use "green hydrogen" for steel production starting in 2026. The traditionally coal-fired blast furnace will be replaced by an electric arc furnace for melting steel scrap. Hiab is converting this into a roll-off tipper truck. On display from Tuesday in Hanover.
Not a "fake", but the result of targeted research on Swedish steel: Hiab, a Cargotec company, presents at the IAA Transportation in Hanover the world's first roll-off tipper whose main component is made from steel that is virtually fossil-free, i.e., produced from the blast furnace largely without additional CO₂ emissions.
Back in 2016, Vattenfall entered into a partnership with the Swedish steel producer and the Swedish mining company LKAB, with the aim of developing a technology for fossil-free iron and steel production. It is expected to be available on the market from 2026.
Hiab will then be able to use materials with lower carbon emissions in the manufacturing of its devices. In the test production for Hiab, SSAB used hybrid technology to produce steel with hydrogen instead of coal. This made it possible to avoid a large portion of CO₂ emissions.
Photo: Hiab
Steel production generates 7% of global CO₂ emissions. At Hiab, the largest share of the CO₂ footprint in the production of load handling equipment, such as the Multilift roll-off tippers, is attributable to the steel used. The production of steel from iron ore generates an average of 2 tons of CO₂ emissions per ton of finished steel worldwide, while these emissions drop to almost zero when produced using fossil-free electricity.
The fossil-free steel, it is said, has the same properties as conventional steel. However, the climate impact of its production is significantly lower, which could considerably reduce CO₂ emissions in Hiab's value chain.
Iron ore magnetite. Fig.: SSAB
Hiab has set itself the goal of reducing its CO₂ emissions by at least 50% and operating in a climate-neutral manner by 2030.
The manufacturing process shown in the video
