Upcycling industrial heritage into fossil-free Infrastructure: Role of iron fuel for the European energy system

Upcycling industrial heritage into fossil-free Infrastructure: Role of iron fuel for the European energy system | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Upcycling industrial heritage into fossil-free Infrastructure: Role of iron fuel for the European energy system Zakarie Bruyr, Lili Bartos, Diederik Coppitters, Géry Leloutre, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9446740/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Long-duration energy storage is essential for a fossil-free Europe. Iron powder is a promising option due to its high energy density, safe storage, and compatibility with transport infrastructure. However, it is not included in most future energy mixes projections. Therefore, we assess its technical potential across 34 European countries, considering electricity and high-temperature heat demand, hydrogen availability, direct reduction of iron (DRI) capacity, and transport logistics. Results show that 42.7 Mt of iron could be reduced annually and used in retrofitted coal plants and cement kilns, storing 88 TWh/year (14% of projected storage demand). Germany emerges as the leading deployment candidate due to high energy demand and coal phase-out plans. Transport analysis shows that even when prioritizing water transport, rail congestion may occur. Current DRI deployment remains below required levels; scaling up capacity would not only defossilize steelmaking, but also unlock a significant co-benefit: large-scale energy storage capacity. Scientific community and society/Energy and society/Energy supply and demand Physical sciences/Engineering/Energy infrastructure/Energy grids and networks Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information of "Upcycling industrial heritage into fossil-free Infrastructure: Role of iron fuel for the European energy system" Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9446740","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":634621905,"identity":"351d1d89-abcc-41f1-a89d-578fd877acb1","order_by":0,"name":"Zakarie Bruyr","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACNiA2ACMgqGBg4AMz4CIEtZyB8InQwgBVwNgG5+PWIt9+LPFzRYENg7n0GTPpynmH5dnYe8wkfhTcYTBnb8CqhbEn7bDkGYM0Bsu+HDPJs9sOG7bxnDGT7DF4xmDZcwCrFmaG9AbJBoPDDAZneMwkG7cdTmCTyDE24AGJ3EjA7hP+580/Gwz+Q7XMgWgx/APScv8BVi08EmnHgLYcgGppAGsxfAyxBbv3JSSepVk2GCTzWPawFVs2HEsH+uVY4WMZg8NAEewOk+9PM77Z8MdOzpyHeePNhhpreX725g0H3/w5LGfOjt37cAcCMYsEughBwPyBGFWjYBSMglEw8gAAnjNUNIVYfPEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5429-2540","institution":"Université Catholique de Louvain","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zakarie","middleName":"","lastName":"Bruyr","suffix":""},{"id":634621906,"identity":"f126e0fe-ac06-40cb-8e2a-72a7b68cd5f4","order_by":1,"name":"Lili Bartos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Libre de Bruxelles","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lili","middleName":"","lastName":"Bartos","suffix":""},{"id":634621907,"identity":"cd16e68b-1cf0-4fbc-a2ce-44748583ce79","order_by":2,"name":"Diederik Coppitters","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9480-2781","institution":"Université catholique de Louvain","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Diederik","middleName":"","lastName":"Coppitters","suffix":""},{"id":634621908,"identity":"fce2a571-cef4-4e2f-8766-dd5d798fa64f","order_by":3,"name":"Géry Leloutre","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Libre de Bruxelles","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Géry","middleName":"","lastName":"Leloutre","suffix":""},{"id":634621909,"identity":"2c247e2d-ed37-46c3-9d47-b3d692ba3ab2","order_by":4,"name":"Francesco Contino","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8341-4350","institution":"Université catholique de Louvain - 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