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A hard look at steel

May 14, 2026 · 14 min

Show notes

From cars and ships to bridges and skyscrapers, steel forms the landscape of modern life. At the same time, steelmaking is one of the world’s biggest industrial sources of climate-warming carbon dioxide. Antoine Allanore, a professor of metallurgy at MIT, explains how CO2 became so entrenched in the chemistry of steelmaking—and the creative ways scientists and engineers are trying to get it out.

We gratefully acknowledge Katie Daehn, postdoctoral associate, and Matthew Michalek, Ph.D. student and research assistant, of the Allanore Group for additional assistance and participation in this episode.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e7-hard-look-steel

For more episodes of Ask MIT Climate, check out askmitclimate.org. Plus, find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for outtakes, bonus content, and more climate knowledge from MIT. As always, we love hearing from our listeners; email us at [email protected].

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