Author: Ali Hasanbeigi, Ph.D.
(Updated: April 7, 2022)
The iron and steel industry accounts for around a quarter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the global industrial sector. Global steel production has more than doubled between 2000 and 2020. China accounted for 53 percent of global steel production in 2020.
The energy use and GHG emissions of the steel industry is likely to continue increasing because the increased demand for steel, particularly in developing countries, is outpacing the incremental decreases in energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions intensity of steel production that are happening under the current policy and technology regime.
Recently, we conducted a benchmarking study for energy and CO2 emissions intensity of the steel industry among the largest steel-producing countries.
In this blog post, I will discuss the results of our benchmarking analysis for primary steel production. In the next blog post, I will discuss the results for Electric Arc Furnace (or secondary) steel production. The primary steelmaking is producing steel from iron ore using Blast Furnace (BF) and Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) production route. Over 70% of the total steel produced globally is by primary steel production route (BF-BOF). Over 90% of the steel produced in China is by primary steel production route.
Figure 1 shows the CO2 intensity of BF-BOF steel production in the studied countries in 2019.
Figure 1. The CO2 intensity of BF-BOF steel production in the studied countries/region in 2019 (Source: Hasanbeigi 2022)
Note: Brazil-Charcoal CN refers to when charcoal is considered carbon neutral. Brazil-Charcoal C+ refers to when charcoal is not considered carbon neutral because of questions and concerns regarding the sustainability of biomass used in steel industry in Brazil. See methodology in the report for more information.
Key factors influencing energy and CO2 emissions intensity of the steel industry are explained in our report. It should be noted that no single factor could be used to explain the variations in energy and CO2 intensity among countries. In addition to energy intensity of BF-BOF plants, one key factor affecting CO2 intensity of BF-BOF steel production is the mix of fuel used in BF-BOF plants in each country. Figure 2 shows the weighted average CO2 emissions factors of fuels in the steel industry in the studied countries in 2019. As can be seen U.S., Mexico and Canada have among the lowest and India, Vietnam, and China have among the highest weighted average CO2 emissions factors of fuels in the steel industry. If charcoal is considered carbon neutral, the Brazil have the cleanest fuel mix and if charcoal is not considered carbon neutral, then Brazil have the highest carbon-intensive fuel mix for the steel industry.
Figure 2. Weighted average CO2 emissions factors of fuels in the steel industry in the studied countries/region in 2019 (Source: Hasanbeigi 2022)
Note: Brazil-Charcoal CN refers to when charcoal is considered carbon neutral. Brazil-Charcoal C+ refers to when charcoal is not considered carbon neutral because of questions and concerns regarding the sustainability of biomass used in steel industry in Brazil. See methodology in the report for more information.
The following factors can influence the primary steel production’s energy and CO2 emissions intensity values across countries:
The fuel mix in the iron and steel industry
The electricity grid CO2 emissions factor
The type of feedstocks in BF-BOF
The level of penetration of energy-efficient technologies
The steel product mix in each country
The age of steel manufacturing facilities in each country
Capacity utilization
Environmental regulations
Cost of energy and raw materials
Boundary definition for the steel industry
To read the full report and see complete results and analysis of this new study, Download the full report from this link.
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