Abstract
The low-carbon development of China’s iron and steel industry (ISI) is important but challenging work for the attainment of China’s carbon neutrality by 2060. However, most previous studies related to the low-carbon development of China’s ISI are fragmented from different views such as production-side mitigation, demand-side mitigation, or mitigation technologies. Additionally, there is still a lack of a comprehensive overview of the long-term pathway to the low-carbon development of China’s ISI. To respond to this gap and to contribute to better guide policymaking in China, this paper conducted a timely and comprehensive review following the technology roadmap framework covering the status quo, future vision, and key actions of the low-carbon development of the world and China’s ISI. First, this paper provides an overview of the technology roadmap of low-carbon development around the main steel production countries in the world. Second, the potential for key decarbonization actions available for China’s ISI are evaluated in detail. Third, policy and research recommendations are put forward for the future low-carbon development of China’s ISI. Through this comprehensive review, four key actions can be applied to the low-carbon development of China’s ISI: improving energy efficiency, shifting to Scrap/EAF route, promoting material efficiency strategy, and deploying radical innovation technologies.
Highlights
An active response to climate change has become a global consensus
Governments around the world have successively released their ambitious climate goals committed to carbon neutrality
As the world’s largest carbon emitter [2], China has scaled up its intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), aiming to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before
Summary
Agreement announced the global climate goal of curbing CO2 emissions growth to hold the global average temperature rise within 2 ◦ C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 [1]. The latest research related to CO2 emission reduction in China’s ISI has been conducted from the view of supply-side mitigation, for example, the optimization of energy use [14], and CO2 recycling from steelmaking systems [15]; demand-side mitigation, such as the recycling and reuse of scrap steel [16]; and mitigation technology options, including hydrogen-based steelmaking technology [17,18] Most of these studies are fragmented from different views and cannot provide a comprehensive overview for the long-term policymaking of the low-carbon development pathway of China’s ISI. Referring to the low-carbon technology roadmaps published by other steel-producing countries and to the actual situation in China, key actions available for the decarbonization of China’s ISI are evaluated one by one, including improving energy efficiency, shifting to Scrap/EAF route, promoting material efficiency strategy, and deploying radical innovation technologies. Suggestions on policy recommendations and next-step research priorities are given tainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW for the low-carbon development of China’s ISI
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