The race across Europe to build green steel plants

[Social Media]

A small military town in Sweden's frozen north is on course to produce Europe's first commercial green steel.

Giant diggers and excavators are powering through layers of mud, ice and snow at the site of a new steel plant just outside Boden, 900 km (559 miles) north of Stockholm.

At 09:00, the sun has only just risen and the temperature is -8C. Some of the workers are wearing three or four jackets, and have switched on the heated seats in their vehicles.

Steel is usually made in a process that starts with blast furnaces. Fed with coking coal and iron ore, they emit large quantities of carbon dioxide and contribute to global warming.

The production of steel is responsible for around 7% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. But in Boden, the new plant will use hydrogen technology, designed to cut emissions by as much as 95%.