Carbon emissions in China's steel industry from a life cycle perspective: Carbon footprint insights.

J Environ Sci (China)

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.

Published: February 2025

AI Article Synopsis

  • * A carbon dioxide emission model was created for China's iron and steel sector, revealing that the industry had a CO emission intensity of 2.33 tons CO/ton, with production stages being the main emission source (89.84% of total emissions).
  • * The analysis found that reducing fossil fuel combustion by 20% could decrease carbon emissions by 13.60%, highlighting the need for the Chinese government to promote energy-saving technologies and increase the use of scrap steel in production.

Article Abstract

China is the most important steel producer in the world, and its steel industry is one of the most carbon-intensive industries in China. Consequently, research on carbon emissions from the steel industry is crucial for China to achieve carbon neutrality and meet its sustainable global development goals. We constructed a carbon dioxide (CO) emission model for China's iron and steel industry from a life cycle perspective, conducted an empirical analysis based on data from 2019, and calculated the CO emissions of the industry throughout its life cycle. Key emission reduction factors were identified using sensitivity analysis. The results demonstrated that the CO emission intensity of the steel industry was 2.33 ton CO/ton, and the production and manufacturing stages were the main sources of CO emissions, accounting for 89.84% of the total steel life-cycle emissions. Notably, fossil fuel combustion had the highest sensitivity to steel CO emissions, with a sensitivity coefficient of 0.68, reducing the amount of fossil fuel combustion by 20% and carbon emissions by 13.60%. The sensitivities of power structure optimization and scrap consumption were similar, while that of the transportation structure adjustment was the lowest, with a sensitivity coefficient of less than 0.1. Given the current strategic goals of peak carbon and carbon neutrality, it is in the best interest of the Chinese government to actively promote energy-saving and low-carbon technologies, increase the ratio of scrap steel to steelmaking, and build a new power system.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2023.04.027DOI Listing

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