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Analysis of iron and steel production paths on the energy demand and carbon emission in China’s iron and steel industry

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Abstract

China's crude steel output has grown rapidly since 1990, accounting for more than half of worldwide production in 2019. Iron and steel industry (ISI) in China's energy consumption and carbon emissions accounted for a higher proportion. In the context of China's "carbon peak, carbon neutrality", the ISI attaches great importance to energy conservation and emission reduction. The BF-BOF long process is far from meeting the China’s policy needs in terms of energy-saving and emission-reducing targets. Therefore, the short process of EAF based on scrap steel’s recycling and direct reduced iron (DRI)’s production has attracted great attention. The e-p approach and scenarios analysis method were used to research the impact of scrap steel's recycling and DRI's production on energy demand and carbon emissions of China's ISI. By 2050, scenario 4 (30% DRI based on coal gasification–gas plus 70% scrap steel for EAF) will have the lowest energy consumption (1.79 × 1011 kgce) and scenario 3 (30% DRI based on hydrogen plus 70% scrap steel for EAF) will have the lowest carbon emissions (3.42 × 1011 kg). The results show that the short process of EAF based on scrap steel recycling and DRI is an extremely important approach for the sustainable development of China's ISI in the future.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52170177), the National Key Research & Development Program of China (2019YFC1905204) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (N182502045).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Eco-Industry, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Qiang Yue, Xicui Chai, Yujie Zhang, Qi Wang, Heming Wang, Feng Zhao, Wei Ji & Yuqi Lu

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  1. Qiang Yue
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Yue, Q., Chai, X., Zhang, Y. et al. Analysis of iron and steel production paths on the energy demand and carbon emission in China’s iron and steel industry. Environ Dev Sustain 25, 4065–4085 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02234-5

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