Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our business
We operate in 35 countries where our 57,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our purpose in action
Continuous improvement and innovation are part of our DNA
Innovation
The need for innovation is greater than ever
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
The primary raw material used to make steel, which is strong, long-lasting and cost-efficient
Lithium
The lightest of all metals, it is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies
Copper
Tough but malleable, corrosion-resistant and recyclable, and an excellent conductor of heat and transmitter of electricity
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Oyu Tolgoi
One of the most modern, safe and sustainable operations in the world
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Nature solutions
Our nature-based solutions projects complement the work we're doing to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Decarbonisation progress update
We have a clear plan on decarbonisation - find out more about our progress in 2024
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Investor seminars
Our Investor seminar will be held in London on 4 December, and our Decarbonisation update on 5 December
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Things you can't live without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
The 'f' word of innovation
How unlocking innovation requires a change of mindset
Reducing titanium oxide's carbon footprint
Our BlueSmelting technology could drastically reduce carbon emissions during ore processing
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A new process could offer a solution to reducing carbon emissions in iron and steelmaking.
BioIron™ uses raw biomass and microwave energy instead of coal to convert Pilbara iron ore to iron and has the potential to support low carbon dioxide (CO2) steelmaking. Our modelling shows that when combined with renewable energy and carbon-circulation by fast-growing biomass, BioIron™ has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 95% compared with the current blast furnace method.
We have proven the process works at a small-scale pilot plant, and now we’re planning to test it on a larger scale at our new BioIron™ Research & Development Facility.
Making steel – the process of converting iron ore into iron and iron into steel – uses a lot of energy. Because of this – and the fact it’s used in so many things – steelmaking is responsible for around 8% of all global CO2 emissions. Most of these emissions are created during the industrial process of transforming iron ore – the raw material – into metal. Decarbonising the way iron (and therefore steel) is made could make a significant contribution to reducing global CO2 emissions.
We worked with experts from the University of Nottingham, England and Metso Corporation (formerly known as Metso Outotec), a specialist in sustainable technologies, to prove BioIron™ works on a small batch scale, and now at our new facility we’ll be able to produce one tonne of iron per hour.
In this new process, iron ore fines are mixed with raw biomass material (like agricultural waste) and heated using a combination of gas released by the biomass and high-efficiency microwaves powered by renewable energy, turning the iron ore into metallic iron. One main attraction of the BioIron™ process is that, as studies have demonstrated, it uses less than a third of the electricity needed by other new technologies currently being trialed such as those using hydrogen.
BioIron™ still releases CO2, however by using fast-growing plants, these emissions are offset by the CO2 absorbed during photosynthesis when the plants regrow. If you just used plants and didn’t regrow them, or if the plants grew slowly – like trees in old growth forests – the CO2 would stay in the atmosphere. So using a fast-growing biomass source is important.
Our process doesn’t, and can’t, use food such as sugar and corn. The parts you can’t eat – the straw, stalks and leaves – contain material called lignocellulose which has the type of carbon the process needs.
We don’t want to solve one problem and cause another. We know from talking to environmental groups that we need to consider the kind of biomass we use and how it’s produced and transported. So, we’re including this as part of our research and we’re also undertaking a benchmarking study of biomass certification processes. Rio Tinto is aware of the complexities around the use of biomass supply and is working to ensure only sustainable sources of biomass are used. Through discussions with environmental groups, as the first step we have ruled out sources that support the logging of old growth and High Conservation Value forests.
To produce iron and steel with a smaller carbon footprint, we’ll need many technological breakthroughs. But there’s no single and obvious pathway to producing steel with low or no emissions. BioIron™ is one of the promising solutions we are developing and it works well with our Pilbara iron ores, the world’s largest iron ore region.
Michael Buckley likes the heat. As a materials engineer, he’s spent his career focusing on the high-temperature processes by which iron ore is converted into iron and steel:
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“Steel is everywhere. It builds our cities, our homes, our cars, everything. But the process of making steel from iron ore takes a lot of energy, it accounts for about 8% of global CO2 emissions. So, for over 10 years now, I’ve been trying to figure out how to decarbonise the process – I’m leading Rio’s scientific research into a new process for producing steel from Pilbara ores that would eliminate the use of coal, and potentially be a cost-effective way for the steel industry to cut its carbon emissions.
Our process uses raw biomass instead of coal. We briquette the biomass with the iron ore, preheat it and then zap it with microwaves – which can be powered by renewable energy – and this removes the oxygen from the iron ore, rapidly converting it into iron metal, which can then be turned into steel.
Raw biomass can be sourced from agricultural by-products, like wheat straw or canola stalks, or purpose grown energy crops on marginal agricultural land, or even micro and macroalgae. Importantly the process doesn’t – and can’t – use foodstuffs such as sugar and corn, and we would never use biomass that supports the logging of native forests.
BioIron™ still releases CO2, however by using fast-growing plants, these emissions are offset by the CO2 absorbed during photosynthesis when the plants regrow– and this is often referred to as 'circular carbon'.
We know our process works in a small-scale pilot plant, and now we’re scaling it up further at our new BioIron™ R&D Facility with a capacity of one tonne an hour.
It means a lot for our partners at the University of Nottingham as well to be taking it to this next stage. We’ve come a long way from the very first tests we did almost a decade ago. It’s new territory for us all, including Metso Corporation, and we’re learning a lot and having a lot of fun.
It’s still early days and we have more work to do to prove it can work. But if we’re successful, it could play an important part in reducing carbon emissions across the steel industry.”
Theoretically there are other ways you can produce iron from iron ore without using coal. One is to use hydrogen to react with the oxygen. Another way is using electricity like in aluminium production. But we will need a variety of solutions to support sustainable steelmaking, and biomass could be a good option for Pilbara iron ores. Through this research, we’re not only able to find a way to process Pilbara iron ore with fewer emissions, we can also contribute to an industry-wide challenge and help our customers reduce their emissions, too.
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With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us at digital.comms@riotinto.com).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
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As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of this Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
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