Clean industry

Green steel

Nippon Steel to begin relining Indiana blast furnace next year

The owner of U.S. Steel confirmed plans to revamp the aging coal-fueled facility at its Gary Works complex. Community groups want a low-carbon steel mill instead.

By Maria Gallucci . 26 August 2025

An industrial facility topped by a sign that reads "Gary Works United States Steel" — The Gary Works plant in Indiana is home to four operating blast furnaces. (Gerald Zaffuts via Getty Images)

Green steel

Deadly blast at US Steel plant highlights need to clean up the industry

U.S. Steel vowed to reinvest in Pennsylvania’s Clairton Coke Works. Green steel proponents want a transition away from polluting coal-based steelmaking instead.

By Maria Gallucci . 15 August 2025
Clean industry

Heat pumps can help clean up factories — and save lives

Americans could save $1.1 trillion in public health costs by replacing thousands of industrial boilers that burn gas, oil, and other fuels nationwide.

By Alison F. Takemura . 15 August 2025
Green steel

China is winning on renewables. Will it win on green steel, too?

While the U.S. backtracks on green steel commitments, Chinese companies are starting to make iron with hydrogen. One just made its first export deal to Europe.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 15 August 2025
Clean industry

Tech giants look to low-carbon cement to curb their huge climate impact

Cement startups Sublime Systems and Brimstone both announced new partnerships with data-center developers and operators — even as federal funding dries up.

By Maria Gallucci . 8 August 2025
Green steel

America’s biggest solar-powered steel mill has a new owner

Rocky Mountain Steel gets most of its electricity from a 300-MW solar project in Colorado. A private-equity firm is acquiring the steel mill’s owner in a $500M deal.

By Maria Gallucci . 16 July 2025
Green steel

Cleaner ironmaking tech a bright spot as US firms retreat from green steel

Most steelmakers rely on iron from polluting coal-fired blast furnaces. But exploding demand for “direct reduced iron” promises to slash the industry’s emissions.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 24 June 2025
Hydrogen

The billion-dollar US green hydrogen boom ended before it ever began

Even before Trump and fellow Republicans began pulling the financial rug out from under the industry, green hydrogen megaprojects were collapsing. Here’s why.

By Julian Spector . 18 June 2025
Green steel

Major US steel company backs away from plan to make green steel

Cleveland-Cliffs was going to outfit an Ohio plant with pollution-reducing tech. Now, to align with Trump’s priorities, the firm is turning back to fossil fuels.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 17 June 2025
Clean industry

This startup turns steel and aluminum waste into usable metals

Chicago-area Sun Metalon removes gunk and grime from metal slivers normally thrown away, helping to reduce emissions from aluminum and steel production.

By Kari Lydersen . 9 June 2025
Clean industry

Trump deals a ‘big blow’ to clean heat with Energy Department cuts

The loss of $3.7 billion in funding for industrial decarbonization threatens efforts to replace large-scale fossil-fueled boilers with electric options.

By Alexander C. Kaufman . 6 June 2025