<\/p>\n
The process relies on coal, and it generates roughly 7% of the carbon emissions that drive climate change\u2014about as much as the fashion industry. Decarbonization has proved difficult: Profit margins are tight and furnaces have long service lives, making investment tough to justify.<\/p>\n
Now Laureen Meroueh may have found a way to clean up steelmaking without driving up the price. Meroueh, the founder of Hertha Metals, invented a new furnace that simplifies the chemistry behind the process. Her method turns iron ore into refined liquid steel in a single step, and it swaps coal for natural gas. Together, those changes slash emissions by at least half, she says, and cut costs by 25% compared with steelmaking business as usual.<\/p>\n
If it catches on, the tech could be transformative. \u201cThere\u2019s huge value in reducing the size of this production system,\u201d says Iryna Zenyuk, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. \u201cThey\u2019re massive. They\u2019re inefficient and require a lot of energy input, so even if they just save energy efficiency, that\u2019s already a big step.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHertha\u2019s approach focuses on what it can fix about the steel industry now, as opposed to waiting around for a zero-carbon system.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Still, it\u2019s a risky endeavor, but pushing limits isn\u2019t new for Meroueh. At 12 she was accepted into a pilot program to take college-\u00adlevel courses through Florida Atlantic University in lieu of a traditional secondary education. She was immediately drawn to engineering and explored topics including calculus and ocean wave energy.<\/p>\n
Despite the rigorous coursework, she would spend hours sitting in trees and surfing, which fostered a deep appreciation for nature and a desire to safeguard it. \u201cI don\u2019t know how you can\u2019t be drawn toward trying to help protect that,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now 34, Meroueh has let that passion inform her professional goals. After finishing her PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT, she led a green hydrogen startup before founding Hertha in 2022. A first-generation Lebanese-American from an entrepreneurial family, she saw starting her own company as a typical path. \u201cSeeing how common it is to take that jump to start your own business is what made me feel like \u2018This is normal,\u2019\u201d she explains on a video call from her office at Hertha\u2019s pilot plant in Conroe, Texas, just north of Houston.<\/p>\n
That facility can produce one metric ton of steel per day. \u201cOne ton per day is a big metric for steel,\u201d says Rajesh Swaminathan, a partner at Khosla Ventures, one of the company\u2019s investors. (Hertha had raised about $20 million in funding as of July 2026.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Swaminathan says the company\u2019s scale-up is \u201cimpressive,\u201d especially given how little the team has spent. Competitors, he notes, have created far less steel with $50 million or $100 million in funding.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#founder #making #cheaper #cleaner #steel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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