[ScreamingViking]

Don, Don, Don...

Never waste an opportunity to make a point I guess. But the real question is, would we rather they keep using coke to make steel? Nobody thought the transition would be easy, but a transition it needs to be.

So long as the city isn't paying for this.


Dofasco aims to build 14-kilometre pipeline for ‘green steel’ project
$1.8-billion transition is expected to double steelmaker’s demand for natural gas

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...-pipeline.html

Teviah Moro
The Hamilton Spectator
Thu., Feb. 2, 2023


ArcelorMittal Dofasco says its plan to transition to “green steel” by 2028 hinges on the construction of a 14-kilometre natural gas pipeline in Hamilton.

The phasing out of coke ovens and blast furnaces in favour of electric arc furnaces will eliminate three million tonnes of carbon dioxide, says Tony Valeri, vice-president of corporate affairs.

The $1.8-billion project is expected to double demand for natural gas from roughly 500 million cubic metres to more than a billion, Valeri told council Wednesday.

“But it’s very important that we’re able to execute this project on time and on budget.”

The bayfront steelmaker and partner Enbridge’s preferred pipeline route would require municipal permits to build along city roads.

They “would very much welcome the support from the City of Hamilton to move this project forward,” Murray Costello, a regional director with Enbridge, told The Spectator.

The preferred option would see the pipeline constructed along Highway 56, Upper Centennial Parkway, Barton Street East and Kenilworth Avenue North to the steelmaker.

That trajectory involves the least amount of impact on natural areas, including a less favourable alternative through King’s Forest Golf Club, Costello noted.

Council offered mixed reactions to pipeline plan after the proponents’ presentation at city hall.

Coun. Tammy Hwang called the project a “really great opportunity” to cut greenhouse gases from the steelmaking operation.

That’s acknowledged, said Coun. Alex Wilson, but the Dundas councillor told the presenters they should investigate ways to reduce natural gas consumption in Hamilton.

“We have to ask sooner rather than later, and what we do matters more.”

Likewise, environmentalist Don McLean told council adding more fossil fuel to the mix will only exacerbate the climate crisis. “It’s really disturbing that we’re looking at another large pipeline.”

Enbridge could instead direct its “substantial” funds toward the replacement of natural gas in local homes with heat pumps, McLean suggested.

He also noted that steelmaking operations in Sweden have already gone free of fossil fuels.

“So it can be done, and it can be done right now in terms of the technology.”

Valeri said ArcelorMittal Dofasco is exploring alternatives such as hydrogen but “part of the challenge” is having enough supply to fuel operations in the short term.

“This is really the first phase to the transition to net zero or low-carbon steel,” he said.

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