Post #2862623 · Elektrine

2026-02-10 17:14 UTC

@btschumy@mas.to @benlockwood@ecoevo.social The technology for metal processing exists. Sweden has demonstrated fossil fuel free steel production, from processing the ore to iron and then on to steel. A commercial plant is under construction. https://www.hybritdevelopment.se/en/hybrit-six-years-of-research-paves-the-way-for-fossil-free-iron-and-steel-production-on-an-industrial-scale/ Most other metals can similarly be produced with effectively zero CO2 emissions. I would agree that cement is a bigger problem but the science is progressing. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710224004297

Replies (1)

@tiotasram@kolektiva.social 2026-02-10 19:34

@btschumy@mas.to @benlockwood@ecoevo.social @gwentlarry@mastodon.social also, electric heavy machinery is definitely a thing: https://evmagazine.com/top10/top-10-electric-construction-vehicles Electric motors are superior to combustion engines for a lot of applications actually, now that battery tech is available to give them decent operating times. As for concrete, there are a ton of other construction materials if you don't focus solely on dense urban architecture. Do we need 20-storey apartment buildings? Not sure on that one. Don't get me wrong; there *are* a ton of changes necessary to live sustainably, some of which would be uncomfortable, and some modern things (like cheap bananas in temperate regions) might change. But these specific examples are wrong if we're trying to make the case that more technical advances are needed before we'd be able to do so. In any case, we are very much *out of time*. Either we change now, or magnify the climate disaster to unsurvivable proportions. We definitely *don't* have the technology to miraculously survive unbridled CO2 emissions.

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