Helix Carbon says it can make iron cheaper by recycling blast furnace pollution
Startup Helix Carbon has developed a technology that recycles carbon dioxide emissions from blast furnaces back into carbon monoxide to improve iron production efficiency. This process aims to reduce the steel industry's carbon footprint while simultaneously increasing profit margins.
Why it matters
Decarbonizing heavy industry is a critical challenge for climate goals, and solutions that align environmental benefits with profitability are highly sought after.
The iron and steel industries are among the biggest polluters in the world. Plenty of startups have tried to cut the industry’s emissions, mostly by developing new ways to make the metals. Helix Carbon thinks those startups have been going about it all wrong.
“Any attempt to decarbonize the steel industry without dealing with the blast furnace is not going to work,” David Brown, Helix Carbon’s co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch. A blast furnace is the giant furnace that turns iron ore into the iron used to make steel. Rather than replace blast furnaces, Helix wants to clean them up. Its approach promises to slash the steel industry’s carbon emissions while boosting profit margins for iron producers, a rare win-win for a dirty industrial process.
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