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Decomposition of the site-level energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of the iron and steel industry

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Abstract

Identifying the key factors influencing energy consumption and CO2 emissions is necessary for developing effective energy conservation and emission mitigation policies. Previous studies have focused mainly on decomposing changes in energy consumption and CO2 emissions at the national, regional, or sectoral levels, while the perspective of site-level decomposition has been neglected. To narrow this gap in research, a site-level decomposition of energy- and carbon-intensive iron and steel sites is discussed. In this work, the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method is used to decompose the changes in the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of iron and steel sites. The results show that the production scale significantly contributes to the increase in both energy consumption and CO2 emissions, with cumulative contributions of 229.63 and 255.36%, respectively. Energy recovery and credit emissions are two key factors decreasing site-level energy consumption and CO2 emissions, with cumulative contributions to the changes in energy consumption and CO2 emissions of −158.30 and −160.45%, respectively. A decrease in energy, flux, and carbon-containing material consumption per ton of steel promotes direct emission reduction, and purchased electricity savings greatly contribute to indirect emission reduction. In addition, site products and byproducts promote an increase in credit emissions and ultimately inhibit an increase in the total CO2 emissions of iron and steel sites.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52334008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Engineering, School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, Liaoning, China

    Jiayang Wang & Wenqiang Sun

  2. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Eco-Industry (Northeastern University), Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Shenyang, 110819, Liaoning, China

    Jiayang Wang & Wenqiang Sun

Authors
  1. Jiayang Wang
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  2. Wenqiang Sun
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Contributions

Both authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Data collection, visualization, and analysis were performed by J Wang and W Sun. The first draft of the manuscript was written by J Wang, and both authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wenqiang Sun.

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Wang, J., Sun, W. Decomposition of the site-level energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of the iron and steel industry. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 16511–16529 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32162-y

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