Smelting #Steel Without Fossil Fuels: #Solar Power Shatters the 1,000°C Barrier for Industrial Heating
"Swiss researchers have developed a solar energy method using synthetic quartz to achieve temperatures above 1,000°C for industrial processes, potentially replacing fossil fuels in the production of materials like steel and cement."
@CelloMomOnCars@ai6yr It is not obvious to me that this solar thermal furnace is either useful or necessary for decarbonizing steel production.
A large fraction of steel smelting is already done in electric arc furnaces; which can be powered by any non-fossil-fuel generator, albeit at potentially lower efficiency?
Maybe it's an efficiency thing.
Maybe it's just a cool new tech. After all, when DVDs were invented we didn't really need them, either, as we already had ways to play recorded music.
Like I said, this is still in the lab, it remains to be seen if it can be scaled up, and cheaply enough, to compete.
@CelloMomOnCars Apologies for my complete lack of prerequisite understanding, but can that temperature not be achieved by turning the solar energy into electricity first?
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