This solar-powered steel mill in the Mojave Desert is a glimpse of the future

The Mojave Micro Mill just broke ground in the Mojave Desert about 85 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It’ll be the first steel mill to open in California in more than half a century when it begins production in two years.

More notable, it’ll do so using local sun and wind power, making it the first self-powered, net-zero steel mill in the country. 

Mojave Micro will make rebar—the thin rods of steel used to reinforce concrete walls and floors—out of recycled scrap steel using a net-zero manufacturing process.