This founder is making cheaper, cleaner steel

The steel industry is notorious for its lack of innovation. The method of purifying iron ore has remained largely unchanged since it was invented in the 1850s. In traditional steelmaking, solid iron ore is melted at extremely high temperatures inside blast furnaces, where it reacts with gases to remove oxygen. The material then undergoes further refining to purify it before being used to manufacture products like rebar and car frames.

This process relies heavily on coal, which leads to the generation of around 7% of the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, an amount comparable to that produced by the fashion industry. Decarbonizing steelmaking has proven challenging due to the tight profit margins and long service lives of furnaces, making investment in new technologies difficult.

Laureen Meroueh, the founder of Hertha Metals, believes she has found a way to make steelmaking cheaper and cleaner without compromising quality. Her invention, a new type of furnace, simplifies the chemistry involved in the process. This innovation turns iron ore directly into refined liquid steel in a single step, replacing coal with natural gas.

These changes are projected to reduce emissions by at least half and decrease costs by 25% compared to traditional steelmaking methods. If adopted widely, Hertha's technology could revolutionize the industry. Iryna Zenyuk, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine, emphasizes the significance of reducing the size and inefficiency of steel production systems. Even a modest increase in energy efficiency could make a substantial difference.

Hertha's approach focuses on addressing current issues in the steel industry rather than waiting for a fully decarbonized system. This strategy is risky, but it aligns with Meroueh's proactive approach. Growing up, Meroueh demonstrated a strong interest in engineering from a young age, excelling in rigorous academic programs and exploring topics such as calculus and ocean wave energy.

Her passion for nature and environmental protection was sparked during her childhood, spending time in nature and surfing. After earning her PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT and leading a green hydrogen startup, Meroueh founded Hertha Metals in 2022. As a first-generation Lebanese-American from an entrepreneurial family, she views starting her own company as a natural progression.

Hertha's pilot plant in Conroe, Texas, can currently produce one metric ton of steel per day. This modest output is considered significant for the steel industry. Rajesh Swaminathan, a partner at Khosla Ventures, which has invested in Hertha, praises the company's scalability, noting that competitors have produced far less steel with significantly more funding.

Meroueh acknowledges that while other approaches to green steel technology rely on hydrogen to remove oxygen from iron ore, Hertha is content with continuing to use fossil fuels for now, primarily to control costs. The current Hertha plant could eventually transition to a fully decarbonized system without major hardware changes if hydrogen becomes more affordable.

Plans are in place to build a larger facility next to the existing one, which is expected to produce 10,000 metric tons of high-purity steel per year annually by the end of 2027. Meroueh believes that Hertha can increase its production to 500,000 metric tons per year by 2030 with the addition of a third site, representing a small fraction of the approximately 80 million metric tons of steel produced annually in the U.S.

Despite the challenging landscape, Meroueh remains optimistic about the potential of her technology. She believes that the world will continue to need steel, so the focus should be on making the steelmaking process more efficient and environmentally friendly. Meroueh's question remains: "How can we be smarter about how we make things so that it's also not going to harm us in the long term?"