Exploring the role of forest biomass in abating fossil CO2 emissions in the iron and steel industry – The case of Sweden

Abstract

This paper considers the utilisation of forest biomass in iron and steel making by putting focus on the supply of available raw biomass assortment, biomass conversion technologies, and distribution of biomass-based products towards reduced fossil CO2 emissions in the iron and steel industry. Biomass-based products are produced by converting biomass assortments from forestry operations and forest industries via slow pyrolysis and gasification technologies. Using a spatially explicit cost optimisation model, biomass supply is optimised to suit the corresponding demand for energy and material substitution, and the extent to which biomass can be a tool in CO2 abatement is explored. The study findings show that maximum use of biomass-based products result in a 43% reduction in CO2 emissions across the existing steel producing technologies. Results also show that increasing the rate of biomass utilisation via substitution targets is more effective than the use of a carbon pricing policy, since the maximum CO2 reduction is unmet even with very high CO2 prices. In the scenario analysis, it is found that low fossil fuel prices constitute a barrier to adopting biomass as an alternative to fossil energy use. Compared to the business-as-usual case, a maximum of 27% increase in energy-related costs was calculated for the industry.