That’s not true. We use syngas (about 50% H, 50% CO) in all the iron ore reduction plants built in the Us in the last few decades, and they can run almost entir

That’s not true. We use syngas (about 50% H, 50% CO) in all the iron ore reduction plants built in the Us in the last few decades, and they can run almost entirely on hydrogen. Additionally, coal wasn’t even used for making steel in the US basically at all until 1827 (charcoal has fewer impurities like the sulfur found in a lot of early coke). The US primarily used charcoal from wood even for iron production until well into the mid 1800s (and by 1884, charcoal was still used for 10% of iron and steel production in the US, and charcoal was still used in some niche areas even into the 1940s). And steam locomotives in the US were also often powered by wood in the 1800s.