Hycamite joins FutSteel project to use methane splitting for low-carbon hydrogen and carbon in steelmaking

Hycamite, a Finnish cleantech company, has joined the 17 million euro FutSteel research project led by the University of Oulu and SSAB. The project aims to develop an electric arc furnace based steel production chain that integrates hydrogen and carbon materials from methane splitting. Hycamite's technology produces hydrogen and solid carbon without CO2 emissions, using roughly one eighth the energy of electrolysis, with much of that energy sourced from excess heat from the steel plant itself. The steel industry accounts for about 7% of global emissions, so this kind of process integration could cut both emissions and energy costs if it scales. The three year project includes partners like SSAB, Coolbrook, Ovako, and Carbo Culture. Hycamite claims its methane splitting process can deliver hydrogen quickly in the volumes steelmakers need, while also producing carbon for slag foaming in electric arc furnaces. The key question is whether the carbon materials produced can replace conventional sources at a competitive price and whether the energy savings hold up at industrial scale. If the numbers work, this could be a practical path to lower emissions without waiting for green hydrogen from electrolysis to get cheap enough.