Winter is approaching, but a lingering chill hangs over the European continent.

The “Nord Stream 1” natural gas pipeline, which used to deliver a steady stream of warmth, is now like a sleeping dragon, no longer able to spit out hot flames. In the face of the looming energy crisis, European countries have embarked on a long journey to find alternative energy sources.

In this anxious moment, a bold and even some incredible idea came out of the blue – with iron to generate electricity. Yes, you heard right, is that our daily life everywhere in the iron and steel, and now the Europeans put on the “energy savior” of high hopes.

“Iron to generate electricity? Is that possible?” I believe that many people’s first reaction to this news is full of question marks. After all, in our knowledge, iron is a hard metal, is the construction of skyscrapers, bridges and railroads of the skeleton, how to change into a fuel can be burned to generate electricity?

In fact, the Europeans hit not so much on the idea of steel itself, but rather focused their attention on the fine iron powder. Compared with the difficult to ignite steel beast, iron powder has a larger surface area, easier to react with oxygen, releasing enormous energy, the heat generated by its combustion can even be comparable to traditional coal. For European countries, the search for alternative energy is certainly important, but also can not be blindly optimistic, and can not bet all the treasure on a technology that has not yet matured. How to build a diversified energy structure, reduce dependence on a single energy source, is the fundamental way to solve the energy crisis.