Hardware Podcasts

Tackling 8% of Global Emissions: Making Iron Sustainable One Atom at a Time with Sandeep Nijhawan

Hardware to Save a Planet · 17 Jul 2025 · 50m · Episode 83

What this episode covers

Sandeep Nijhawan, CEO and Co-founder of Electra, explains how his company is reinventing steel production using a low-temperature electrowinning process that converts iron ore into pure metallic iron at 60 degrees Celsius, allowing it to be powered by intermittent renewable electricity. He details the technical challenges of dissolving iron ore and stabilizing its charge states, the economic advantages of using underutilized low-grade ores, and the company's journey from a garage startup to operating pilot plants in Colorado with an $186 million Series B. Nijhawan discusses the strategic need for a demonstration plant to qualify products for steelmakers like Newcor and the long-term vision of regional hubs to decarbonize the $600 billion iron market.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Electra, Newcor, Aqua Hydrex, True North Ventures, Fort Energy, ESS

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Catalyst · 45m

    Pathways to decarbonizing steel

    Rebecca Dell, senior director of the industry program at the Climateworks Foundation, discusses the pathways to decarbonizing the steel industry, which accounts for 8% of global emissions. She explains why conventional blast furnaces are hard to replace and evaluates hydrogen DRI, direct electrification via companies like Boston Metal, and the limited role of carbon capture. The conversation highlights major players like SSAB, ThyssenKrupp, and Salzgitter, and notes the economic and technical challenges of scaling green steel.

    Energy & climate techMaterials & manufacturing processes
    9 chapters

  • Catalyst · 43m

    Fixing cement’s carbon problem

    Leah Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Sublime Systems, explains how her company uses electrochemical processes to produce cement at room temperature, avoiding the high-temperature kilns and limestone decomposition that cause 8% of global emissions. Shayle Khan of Energy Impact Partners discusses the limitations of current decarbonization strategies, including supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash and post-combustion carbon capture, highlighting why they offer only incremental reductions. The conversation covers the technical properties of Portland cement, the centralized nature of cement production versus the distributed ready-mix market, and the economic argument that low-carbon cement's 'green premium' is negligible compared to total construction labor costs.

    Energy & climate techMaterials & manufacturing processes
    8 chapters

  • Catalyst · 49m

    Keeping copper from limiting the energy transition

    Cristóbal Undurraga, CEO of Ceibo, explains how stagnating copper supply threatens net-zero goals due to declining ore grades and the high capital costs of transitioning from oxide to sulfide mining. He details the industry's reliance on concentration plants for sulfides, which require billions in investment and complex permitting, while highlighting Ceibo’s novel electrolysis technology that enables leaching of refractory copper sulfides like chalcocite. Undurraga argues that extending the life of existing hydrometallurgical infrastructure is critical to meeting the doubling demand for copper in the energy transition without building entirely new, expensive smelting facilities.

    Energy & climate techMaterials & manufacturing processes
    7 chapters

  • Catalyst · 46m

    Solving the conundrum of industrial heat

    John O'Donnell, co-founder and CEO of Rondo Energy, explains how thermal storage can decarbonize industrial heat by bridging the gap between intermittent renewable electricity and the continuous, high-temperature energy required by factories. He details the economic and technical challenges of industrial processes, noting that while direct electrification is possible, it is often insufficient for 24/7 operations without storage. O'Donnell highlights Rondo's use of solid-state thermal storage to achieve over 95% efficiency, enabling facilities to leverage cheap, intermittent wind and solar power for continuous production. The conversation also explores the emerging trend of industrial grid defection, where facilities build behind-the-meter renewables to avoid rising transmission costs and secure low-cost energy.

    Energy & climate techMaterials & manufacturing processes
    6 chapters

  • The Manufacturing Executive

    Advancing Battery Innovation for a Power Grid Under Pressure w/ Arwed Niestroj

    Arwed Niestroj, President and COO of Sakuu, explains why battery manufacturing is a complex material science problem where tiny defects cause failures, contrasting it with standard physical manufacturing. He details Sakuu's dry electrode coating technology, which eliminates toxic solvents and reduces facility footprint by 55%, enabling cost-effective Western production. Niestroj discusses how AI accelerates scaling and process control for these complex chemical reactions, and argues that this innovation allows for reshoring battery production to the US by lowering capital and operational costs.

    Materials & manufacturing processesScaling production
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Hardware to Save a Planet. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.