Hydrogen and the Decarbonization of Steel Production in Canada

Thursday, December 14, 2023

11am-12pm MT

Moderator:

David Billedeau, Director, Climate & Environment, Canadian Steel Producers Association

Presenters:

Mohd Adnan Khan, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta
David Layzell, Transition Pathway Principal, The Transition Accelerator

About the Webinar

To convert iron ore into the iron required for steelmaking, the Canadian steel industry primarily relies on coal, coke, and natural gas in large blast furnaces. Currently responsible for approximately 2% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, the steel industry is committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, but reaching those goals will require innovative new approaches to steel production.

Based on a report written in collaboration with the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA), this webinar discussed the potential solution of using low-carbon hydrogen in the steel production process. Report authors Adnan Khan and David Layzell examined the economic, technical, and logistical challenges this approach would involve, and explored recommendations on policies and strategies to help shift the steel industry towards a sustainable future.

About the Moderator

David Billedeau is the Director of Climate and Environment for the Canadian Steel Producers Association. In this role, David is focused on establishing synergies in advancing the sector’s economic competitiveness and environmental performance targets. Prior to this role, David served as a Senior Director at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, a government relations specialist at Toyota Canada, and a policy advisor with the Government of Canada. In addition to his professional experience, David is completing a PhD at the University of Waterloo within the Faculty of Environment, where he holds a research fellowship with the Energy Council of Canada. 

About the Presenters

Mohd Adnan Khan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta and the principal investigator for the Energy Transition Lab. He is passionate about renewable energy systems and contributing to the development of a future hydrogen economy. Adnan has over 10 years of industrial and academic experience leading research teams across the value chain of innovation, technology development, and commercialization. He has played key roles in fostering collaboration among industry, government, and academia. The goal of his research lab is to develop and analyze novel materials, technologies, and credible transition pathways towards Net-Zero emissions for Canada. He is working closely with government organizations and non-profits such as the Transition Accelerator to encourage the spin-out of consortia led projects, get change moving on the ground and help drive Canada towards a net-zero future.

David B. Layzell is an Energy Systems Architect with the Transition Accelerator, a Faculty Professor at the University of Calgary, and Director of the Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research CESAR Initiative. Between 2008 and 2012, he was Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE), a cross-faculty, graduate research, and training institute at the University of Calgary. Before moving to Calgary, he was a Professor of Biology at Queen’s University cross appointments in Environmental Studies and the School of Public Policy), and Executive Director of BIOCAP Canada, a research foundation focused on biological solutions to climate change. While at Queen’s he cofounded a scientific instrumentation company called Qubit Systems Inc and was elected ‘Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) for his research contributions.