Nucor Corporation has announced that it has made an equity investment in Electra, a Colorado-based start-up developing a process to produce carbon-free iron that can be used to make steel. The company uses renewable energy to refine low-grade iron ores into high-purity iron through electrochemical and hydrometallurgical processes. This material will be used in the steelmaking process to offset other high-quality metallics that come with higher greenhouse gas emissions.

“We are excited to partner with Electra and its revolutionary process to produce emission-free iron,” said Leon Topalian, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nucor Corporation. “Just as Nucor changed the face of the steel industry 53 years ago with our first electric arc furnace, successfully developing and scaling up a zero-carbon iron product is the type of transformative technology that could change the steel industry as we know it.”

The process developed by Electra produces Low-Temperature Iron (LTI) from commercial and low-grade ores using zero-carbon intermittent electricity. The company electrochemically refines iron ore into pure iron at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) using renewable electricity. That iron can be turned into steel using existing electric arc furnaces, which account for 70% of steel production in the U.S.

Electra’s process results in zero carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, approximately 70% of the steel produced globally is made with blast furnace technology, an extractive process fed by iron ore, coal, and limestone that emits about two tons of carbon dioxide for every ton of steel produced.

Using primarily recycled scrap as raw material, Nucor is already one of the cleanest steelmakers in the world. The circular nature of remelting recycled scrap in electric arc furnaces, combined with steel’s ability to be infinitely recycled, means that Nucor’s steelmaking facilities generate roughly one-third of the carbon dioxide of extractive steelmaking plants. Its investment in Electra is one of several investments the company is making that furthers Nucor’s status as a sustainability leader and builds on the innovation that has already led to cleaner steel production in the United States.

“We are focused on investing our capital on opportunities like these that have the potential to take our company and the entire industry to the next level,” said Doug Jellison, Nucor’s Executive Vice President of Raw Materials, and a member of Electra’s Market Advisory Board. “We will continue to look to the future for new and innovative ways to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals.”