"World's First" Furniture Made From Fossil-Free Steel
Street furniture brand Vestre and designer Emma Olbers have produced a piece of furniture using fossil-free steel that was made without creating carbon emissions. The Tellus bench is made from steel forged by Swedish steelmaker SSAB in its converted blast furnace, which uses green hydrogen instead of coal for heat, and so emits no carbon dioxide. The material has exactly the same properties as traditional steel but is produced using a process called Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology (HYBRIT), in which green hydrogen is burned instead of coal and coke. Vestre, which aims to be recognized as the world's most sustainable furniture company, says it is the first furniture manufacturer in the world to use the fossil-free steel. Steel is one of the brand's prime targets for slashing its carbon emissions. For designer Olbers, the goal was to lower emissions even further by using as little material as possible to make the bench. Even though SSAB's alloy is forged without coal, there are still carbon emissions elsewhere in the value chain, such as from mining and transport, so every gram of material still has some carbon cost. Aesthetically, Olbers wanted the bench to have a "metal feel" but also look inviting, so she gave it wide armrests that would invite repose while providing enough space to rest a coffee cup. Tellus is intended for parks and other public spaces, and can be ordered in any classic RAL colour. The bench is titled after one of the alternative names for planet Earth. Vestre came to work with the fossil-free steel following a long-time partnership with SSAB. Bjørnstad describes the companies as having a "tight dialogue" on several sustainability projects. SSAB is planning to convert all of its factories in Sweden, Finland and the USA to HYBRIT and phase out its other steel products by 2045. Doing so could reduce the total CO2 emissions of Sweden by around ten per cent and Finland by approximately seven per cent, SSAB has estimated.
Tags : Street furniture brand Vestre designer Emma Olbers furniture fossil-free steel carbon emissions Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology green hydrogen