[Episode #252] – Steelmaking in the Mid-Transition

On April 12, the British government took control of British Steel under an emergency authorization in order to prevent its last blast furnace from shutting down. Blast furnaces produce primary steel from iron ore and account for about 93% of global primary iron production, but they also generate large amounts of CO2. Alternative, low-carbon technologies are expected to replace them as the energy transition proceeds.

But retiring a technology—especially one as critical to national security as steelmaking—and replacing it with another is a process that should be conducted carefully and deliberately…not on an emergency basis.

This kind of "mid-transition" problem is one our guests have studied in depth. Emily Grubert is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame who previously joined us in Episode #185 to discuss the mid-transition. Joshua Lappen is a historian and engineer working as a postdoctoral research associate with Emily at Notre Dame.

In this conversation, we review the facts of the British Steel takeover, including why letting the blast furnace shut down was deemed to be an unacceptable risk. We examine the options for decarbonizing steelmaking that will eventually displace blast furnace technology. And we consider what impact Trump's global tariff war may have on the transitioning of steelmaking, and what some of the geopolitical implications of that may be for the steel industry in Britain, and the world.

Guest #1:

Emily Grubert is a civil engineer and environmental sociologist who studies how we can make better decisions about large infrastructure systems, particularly related to decarbonization of the US energy system. Specifically, she studies socioenvironmental impacts associated with future policy and infrastructure and how community and societal priorities can be better incorporated into multicriteria policy and project decisions. Grubert is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Energy Policy and, concurrently, of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame.

On Twitter: @emilygrubert

On the Web: emilygrubert.org

Guest #2:

Josh Lappen is a historian and engineer who studies the growth, collapse, and political economy of infrastructure. In particular, his research focuses on how energy networks shape and are shaped by local environments and political institutions – entanglements that can suggest ways to better manage those systems for just and rapid decarbonization. Josh completed his PhD at the University of Oxford, and is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Notre Dame.

On Bluesky: @jlappen1.bsky.social

On the Web:  https://pulte.nd.edu/people/faculty-staff/josh-lappen/

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lappen-9a3a76112/

Recording date: April 25, 2025

Air date: June 18, 2025

Geek rating: 7