Can Electricity Replace Fire in Iron Production?

In the world of heavy industry, making iron has long meant burning coal and releasing massive amounts of carbon into the air. However, Electra, a company based in the United States, is rethinking this old equation. Instead of using high heat and fossil fuels, Electra has developed a way to produce pure iron using renewable electricity and a low-temperature electrochemical process. What that means in simpler terms is no coal, no direct emissions, just iron and oxygen.

The method works with common iron ores, including those considered too low-grade for traditional methods. Electra dissolves the ore in a special solution and uses electricity to pull out pure iron. The only byproduct of this reaction is oxygen, unlike the carbon dioxide created by blast furnaces. This process takes place at just 60°C (about the temperature of a cup of coffee), which is far lower than the thousands of degrees needed in standard ironmaking. That’s a huge leap in both energy savings and environmental impact.

Electra’s system is built to plug into today’s power grids and factories. It doesn’t require mining new ores or redesigning steel production from scratch. Instead, it’s made to fit into existing supply chains and take advantage of renewable power sources like wind or solar. By using iron ores that are already mined but previously unusable for steelmaking, Electra also helps reduce waste from mining operations.

Iron is the backbone of modern infrastructure, from cars and buildings to appliances and bridges. But the way we make it today contributes nearly 10% of global CO₂ emissions. Electra’s clean iron offers a way to cut that number dramatically without giving up the material the world relies on.