Produced by Swedish steel manufacturer, SSAB, the steel is made using fossil-free electricity and hydrogen, which is believed to offer a significantly lower climate impact compared to traditional steelmaking, coming as an important step toward a Net Zero value chain.
Among the customers that will have the hydrogen-produced steel in some of their electric trucks are Amazon and DFDS, and through the transport company Simon Loos, Unilever.
H2 View understands the fossil-free steel is being used in the electric truck’s frame rails, the backbone of the truck. Volvo has said as the availability of fossil-free steel increases, it will also be introduced in other parts of the truck.
In 2021, SSAB Oxelösund announced it had delivered the ‘world’s first’ fossil-free steel using HYBRIT technology that used hydrogen instead of coal and coke to Volvo Group.
Read more: HYBRIT technology delivers the world’s first fossil-free steel to Volvo Group
Just last month (October 2022), the HYBRIT initiative, a joint venture between SSAB, LKAD, and Vattenfall, said its test results proved that the direct reduction of iron ore using hydrogen offers a ‘superior product’.
Read more: Hydrogen reduced DRI has ‘superior’ properties, according to HYBRIT research
Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice-President of Product Management at Volvo Trucks, said, “Our journey to Net Zero emissions includes both making our vehicles fossil-free in operation and over time fully replacing the material in our trucks with fossil-free and recycled alternatives.”
Andreas Marschner, Vice-President Transportation Services Europe at Amazon, commented, “At Amazon, we are on the way to make all of our operations Net Zero carbon by 2040. We need partners like Volvo to make this transition happen.”
Niklas Andersson, Executive Vice-President of DFDS Logistics Division, added, “DFDS is committed to our green transition and to deliver greener transport and logistics solutions. Any step in the green transition of logistics brings us closer to a carbon-free society and we are therefore happy to learn that some of our new electric trucks soon to be delivered are also produced with fossil-free steel.”
H2 View’s Hydrogen Mobility Snap Summit – November 29
With the mobility pillar consistently a hot topic for hydrogen markets and arguably the most anticipated and relatable application of the energy transition, H2 View stages a Mobility Snap Summit this November to summarise the progress made in 2022 and look ahead to what’s still to come.
Infrastructure challenges remain. Questions linger over policy and implementation. Many wonder which strand of the transport sector will blaze the trail in hydrogen power first, and likewise which region. There are clear challenges ahead, yet considerable progress made in 2022 and bright spots ahead in 2023 and beyond.
Join H2 View this November for a half-day online event dedicated to unearthing the progress made, dissecting the challenges to be met and establishing the state-of-play across mobility as 2023 approaches. Find more information here.
Premium Subscribers to H2 View have access to this event as part of their subscription package; non-subscribers can secure access to the event with a delegate ticket ($99). All delegates can access the event on-demand from 1st December.