In a recent article, “EMSTEEL and Masdar Announce Success of Pilot Project Using Green Hydrogen to Produce Green Steel”,  the UAE’s largest steel and building materials company, EMSTEEL and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC, Masdar,  announced the successful commencement of a pilot project establishing the use of certified hydrogen to produce steel – the first of its kind in the Middle East and North African region that is now fully operational.  

The article explains the importance of the steel production industry in the UAE. However, due to its carbon-intensive and hard-to-abate nature, the sector contributes between seven and eight percent of worldwide carbon emissions. With the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure Steel launched the National Green Certificates Program to promote the use of sustainable building materials and the rising, global demand for renewably sourced steel, the pilot project, which uses renewable hydrogen to extract iron from iron ore – a crucial step in steelmaking – and partnership between EMSTEEL and Masdar demonstrates how renewable hydrogen can be applied to decarbonize the global steel value chain whilst clean energy and heavy industry partners in the UAE are collaborating and taking action to accelerate the energy transition. 

The International Tracking Standard Foundation’s (I-TRACK Foundation) Accredited Code Manager, Avance Labs, has certified the renewable hydrogen produced during the project. The certification process of the hydrogen is in accordance with the recently released ISO 19870 methodology for carbon accounting.  

The successful production of steel through certified renewable hydrogen demonstrates the potential for significant expansion into renewable produced commodities, the drive towards sustainability, and the reduction of emissions produced in association with steel manufacturing, as well as the benefits of implementing a robust attribute tracking system to ensure the development of a renewables market.