Hybrit Makes “Green Steel” Without Coal

While traditional ore-based steel manufacturing uses coking coal and creates approximately 8% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, Swedish venture Hybrit replaces coal with “renewable electricity and hydrogen” to make their “green steel.” Hybrit is owned by Nordic and US-based steelmaker SSAB (which currently accounts for “10% of Sweden’s and 7% of Finland’s carbon dioxide emissions”), as well as state-owned utility Vattenfall and miner LKAB. …

XTU Architects’ Radical Housing Concepts For Offshore Oil Rigs

Entitled “x_lands,” XTU Architects’ radical housing concept transforms the bones of offshore oil rigs into verdant sanctuaries. These platforms, very much a symbol of our reliance on oil, pose particularly interesting for adaption thanks to their vast scale and innate structural support. In addition to the greenery, XTU Architects proposes several different window-laden, container-like additions (and even some bubbles) to house human life. Read more …

Heliogen’s Solar Farm Could Drastically Reduce Global Emissions

Backed by Bill Gates, clean energy company Heliogen has developed a concentrated solar energy source that could eliminate carbon-emitting industrial processes—essentially “transforming sunlight to create and replace fuels.” The advancement would allow heavy machinery to forego fossil fuels and employ those created from the process (like hydrogen or syngas), ultimately reducing global carbon emissions by 10%. The technology at the center of Heliogen’s innovative idea …