The steel industry has been stuck in the 1850s. For nearly two centuries, blast furnaces have burned coal to purify iron ore, a process that accounts for roughly 7% of global carbon emissions. Profit margins are razor-thin, and replacing massive, long-lived infrastructure is expensive. Most green steel startups are betting on hydrogen, but that technology remains costly and immature. Laureen Meroueh, founder of Hertha Metals, is taking a different path. She has developed a furnace that simplifies the chemistry, turning iron ore into refined liquid steel in a single step while swapping coal for natural gas.
The results from her pilot plant in Conroe, Texas, are striking. Meroueh claims the method cuts production costs by 25% compared to traditional methods and reduces emissions by at least 50%. While it isn’t zero-carbon yet, it offers a pragmatic bridge. The current hardware can eventually switch to hydrogen if the fuel becomes affordable, allowing the company to decarbonize further without rebuilding its entire infrastructure. This flexibility addresses a major hurdle in heavy industry: the need for immediate economic viability alongside environmental progress.
Investors are noticing the efficiency. Khosla Ventures partner Rajesh Swaminathan noted that Hertha produced one metric ton of steel per day at its pilot facility with significantly less capital than competitors who spent $50 million to $100 million for far lower output. The company had raised about $20 million as of July 2026. Plans are already underway to expand. A new plant aims to produce 10,000 metric tons annually by late 2027, with a target of 500,000 metric tons by 2030.
That 2030 target is still a drop in the bucket compared to the 80 million metric tons the US produces each year. But Iryna Zenyuk from the University of California, Irvine, points out that even small gains in energy efficiency matter in such an energy-intensive sector. Meroueh’s approach proves you don’t need to wait for a perfect zero-carbon solution to start making progress. The real test will be whether Hertha can scale this chemistry without losing its cost advantage as it moves from pilot to commercial production.
