Boulder-based startup Electra cuts down on carbon emissions when producing steel

A Boulder-based startup is garnering the attention of Colorado leaders as well as national ones for its work in cutting down carbon emissions in the process of producing steel, which as an industry emits about 8% of carbon dioxide emissions globally.  

With the climate crisis at our front door, the need for solutions, such as cutting down carbon emissions, is as great as ever. One industry that's eluded experts so far has been steel production. 

"The steel industry is one of the hardest to abate sectors," said Sandeep Nijhawan, co-founder of Electra.  

Nijhawan and fellow co-founder Quoc Pham are on a mission to change that. For three years now, they've come closer than most. 

"We are electrifying steel making and, in the process, have zero emissions," Nijhawan said.  

Nijhawan and Pham run Electra and are making steel in an environmentally friendly way. To do so, they use electricity instead of coal to melt down iron ore.   

"Since our source of energy is fossil fuel free there is no carbon dioxide emission in the process as a result," he said.  

The process also works at much lower temperatures than the traditional way, which allows the company to use a more abundant lower quality ore. 

"We put everything in the liquid state so we can sift out impurities that allow us to use a lower grade iron ore that is currently not commercialized or cannot be used today," Pham said. "We are solving a CO2 emissions challenge and iron ore sustainability challenge." 

Over the past three years, Electra has hired dozens of employees and improved production capabilities. They've also added major industry partners, such as Nucor, BHP, and Amazon.  

Recently, the company has caught the attention of state and federal leaders. On Friday, Sen. Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse came for a tour.  

"To imagine a world where we're producing steel with green energy in a way that is scalable across the world is exciting for Boulder and exciting for Colorado," Bennet said. 

"The notion that this kind of innovation is happening here in our backyard in Colorado, high-paying jobs for Coloradans to boot, I think is a win-win," Neguse said.  

Moving forward, Electra has plans to grow its infrastructure and production. Current construction at the headquarters is expected to be finished by the end of the year. 

"Moving an industry, which is one of the hardest to abate sectors is critical so that we can move to a clean energy economy," Nijhawan said.