Green Steel

Could biochar kilns and stoves be made from 'Green Steel' using 'Green Hydrogen' from the Whyalla Steelworks rebooted/bailed out?

Would freshwater be needed for 'Green Hydrogen' and if so how would it be produced?

How would electricity be produced and how would it be stored?

How can water security be improved?

 

Port Lincoln doesn't want a desalination operation in the middle of their seafood industry. Who can blame them? Billy Lights Point is controversial with the Barngarla people as it would sit on their land with nearby Ancestral fish traps.

What if seawater from a much closer site could be piped to the steelworks (avoiding the use of precious freshwater and reducing the size of any proposed desal plant) with 'Green Hydrogen' produced at the steelworks directly from the seawater eg1. a photocatalyst eg2. a special steel alloy for electrodes.

https://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/research-news/20231213141500.html

Not the only option for direct seawater electrolysis - but - considering the Uni of Tsukuba is the heart of Japanese industrial R&D - worth a look, I think.

Saltwater batteries could potentially use harvested salt from seawater brine produced from 'Green Hydrogen' production.

https://aquabattery.com/

Brine wastewater from the seawater can also be mined for other chemical elements and compounds:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brine_mining

 

The saltwater batteries, rather than Green Hydrogen (energy inefficient), could store excess renewable energy after the Hydrogen demand is met for the steelworks, and could provide power to be used for manufacturing and residential areas.

 

But - there's a better option for desalination and energy storage though seems to be at the experimental stage

- Redox Flow Desalination (RFD):

https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/nyu-tandon-researchers-unlock-energy-efficient-solution-global-water-crisis

(includes a link to an open access research paper on the topic)

Energy storage from renewables eg. wind, solar, biomass etc. and desalination all in one - which could be useful if the 'Green Hydrogen' system needs freshwater for electrolysis or photocatalysis and/or a water security problem exists in nearby industrial or residential areas.

 

Solar light using a photocatalyst eg.‘core and shell Sn(II)-perovskite’ oxide solar material can also split water for Hydrogen according to an international collaboration including Flinders University scientists.

https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2024/12/23/solar-step-forward-for-green-hydrogen/

I contacted Professor Gunther Anderrson on 4/3/25 and he explained that "The process works so far only with freshwater. It is indeed unpowered and does not need electrical power - apart from a small amount of power to run some controllers and valves etc." Not sure about the durability of the photocatalyst but still awesome. Freshwater is a scarce resource in the biggest desert on the Planet (Oz) and everywhere there are people or other species with freshwater survival requirements. Ideally, freshwater wouldn't be diverted for H2 production but the RFD increases the sustainability of this requirement.

It would be fantastic if Professor Anderrson's team could adapt the photocatalyst for seawater! Very energy efficient with no freshwater needed!!

 

'Green Hydrogen' could be buffered using activated biochar (experimental) or using Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) tech which I've previously blogged about for the shipping industry

https://www.permachar.net/2023/12/29/a-closed-loop-green-hydrogen-sysem/

Commercialisation of LOHC is starting to happen now:

https://ayrtonenergy.com/technology (which uses an oil based H2 carrier).

 

So, in the following mind map, I've outlined a 'Green Steel' industrial ecology with 4 options for 'Green Hydrogen' production: