New Report: How Clean is the U.S. Steel Industry?

An International Benchmarking of Energy and CO2 Intensities

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 2018. China accounted for 51 percent of global steel production in 2018. 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 CO2 emissions intensity of steel production that are happening under the current policy and technology regime.

In this study, which was supported by the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation, we conduct a benchmarking analysis for energy and CO2 emissions intensity of the steel industry among the largest steel-producing countries. Because of the difference in the composition of the steel industry across countries and the variation in the share of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production, a single intensity value for the overall steel industry is not a good indicator of efficiency of the steel industry in a country. Therefore, in addition to calculating energy and CO2 intensities for the entire steel industry, we also calculated separately the intensities associated with the EAF and blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) production routes in each country.

Our results show that when looking at the entire steel industry, Italy and Spain have the lowest and China has the highest energy and CO2 emissions intensities among the countries studied. Among several reasons, this is primarily because of a significantly higher share of scrap-base EAF steel production from total steel production in Italy and Spain and a very low share of EAF steel production in China. The U.S. steel industry’s final energy and CO2 emissions intensities rank 4th lowest among the countries studied.

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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56 Emerging Technologies for Energy-efficiency and GHG Emissions Reduction in the Iron and Steel Industry

Author: Ali Hasanbeigi, Ph.D.

Iron and steel manufacturing is one of the most energy-intensive industries worldwide. In addition, use of coal as the primary fuel for iron and steel production means that iron and steel production has among the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of any industry. According to the International Energy Agency, the iron and steel industry accounts for the largest share – approximately 27 percent – of CO2 emissions from the global manufacturing sector.

Figure 1: World steel production in 2015 by countries and regions (worldsteel 2016)

China accounts for around half of the world’s steel production. Annual world steel demand is expected to grow from approximately 1,410 million tonnes (Mt) of crude steel in 2010 to approximately 2,200 Mt in 2050. The bulk of this growth will take place in China, India, and other developing countries in Asia (Bellevrat and Menanteau 2008). This significant increase in steel consumption and production will drive a significant increase in the industry’s absolute energy use and CO2 emissions.

Studies have documented the potential to save energy by implementing commercially-available energy-efficiency technologies and measures in the iron and steel industry worldwide. However, today, given the projected continuing increase in absolute steel production, future reductions (e.g., by 2030 or 2050) in absolute energy use and CO2 emissions will require further innovation in this industry. Innovations will likely include development of different processes and materials for steel production or technologies that can economically capture and store the industry’s CO2 emissions. The development of these emerging technologies and their deployment in the market will be a key factor in the iron and steel industry’s mid- and long-term climate change mitigation strategies.

Many studies from around the world have identified sector-specific and cross- energy-efficiency technologies for the iron and steel industry that have already been commercialized (See figure below). However, information is scarce and scattered regarding emerging or advanced energy-efficiency and low-carbon technologies for the steel industry that have not yet been commercialized.

Figure 2: Commercialized energy efficiency technologies and measures for iron and steel industry (Source: IIP, 2012)

My colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and I wrote a report that consolidated available information on emerging technologies for the iron and steel industry with the goal of giving engineers, researchers, investors, steel companies, policy makers, and other interested parties easy access to a well-structured database of information on this topic.

The information about the 56 emerging technologies for the steel industry was covered in the report and was presented using a standard structure for each technology. Table below shows the list of the technologies covered.

Table 1. Emerging energy-efficiency and CO2 emissions-reduction technologies for the iron and steel industry (Hasanbeigi et al. 2013)

Shifting away from conventional processes and products will require a number of developments including: education of producers and consumers; new standards; aggressive research and development to address the issues and barriers confronting emerging technologies; government support and funding for development and deployment of emerging technologies; rules to address the intellectual property issues related to dissemination of new technologies; and financial incentives (e.g. through carbon trading mechanisms) to make emerging low-carbon technologies, which might have a higher initial costs, competitive with the conventional processes and products.

Our report is published on LBNL’s website and can be downloaded from this Link. Please feel free to contact me if you have any question.

Don't forget to Follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to get the latest about our new blog posts, projects, and publications.

Some of our related publications are:

1. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Arens, Marlene; Rojas-Cardenas, Jose; Price, Lynn; Triolo, Ryan. (2016). Comparison of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity of Steel Industry in China, Germany, Mexico, and the United States. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Volume 113, October 2016, Pages 127–139

2. Zhang, Qi; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn; Lu, Hongyou; Arens, Marlen (2016). A Bottom-up Energy Efficiency Improvement Roadmap for China’s Iron and Steel Industry up to 2050. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. LBNL- 1006356

3. Morrow, William; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Sathaye, Jayant; Xu, Tengfang. 2014. Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement and CO2 Emission Reduction Potentials in India’s Cement and Iron & Steel Industries. Journal of Cleaner Production. Volume 65, 15 February 2014, Pages 131–141

4. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn, Aden, Nathaniel; Zhang Chunxia; Li Xiuping; Shangguan Fangqin. 2014. Comparison of Iron and Steel Production Energy Use and Energy Intensity in China and the U.S. Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 65, 15 February 2014, Pages 108–119

5. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Morrow, William; Sathaye, Jayant; Masanet, Eric; Xu, Tengfang. (2013). A Bottom-Up Model to Estimate the Energy Efficiency Improvement and CO2 Emission Reduction Potentials in the Chinese Iron and Steel Industry. Energy, Volume 50, 1 February 2013, Pages 315-325

6. Hasanbeigi, A., Price, L., Aden, N., Zhang C., Li X., Shangguan F. 2011. A Comparison of Iron and Steel Production Energy Use and Energy Intensity in China and the U.S. Berkeley CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report LBNL-4836E.

References:

• Bellevrat, E., P. Menanteau. 2008. “Introducing carbon constraint in the steel sector: ULCOS scenarios and economic modeling.” Proceedings of the 4th Ulcos seminar, 1-2 October.

• Hasanbeigi, Ali; Arens, Marlene; Price, Lynn; (2013). Emerging Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Reduction Technologies for the Iron and Steel Industry. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BNL-6106E.

• Institute for Industrial Productivity. 2012. Iron and Steel technologies http://ietd.iipnetwork.org/content/iron-and-steel

• worldsteel Association. 2016. World steel in figures.

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Structural Change in Chinese Steel Industry and Its Impact on Energy Use and GHG Emissions up to 2030

Author: Ali Hasanbeigi, Ph.D.

Production of iron and steel is an energy-intensive and air polluting manufacturing process. In 2014, the iron and steel industry accounted for around 28 percent of primary energy consumption of Chinese manufacturing (NBS 2015a). Steel production in 2015 was 804 Mt (worldsteel, 2016), representing 49.5% of the world production that year (Figure 1).

Figure 1. China’s Crude Steel Production and Share of Global Production (1990-2015) (EBCISIY, various years; NBS, 2015b, worldsteel 2016)

China is a developing country and the iron and steel industry, as a pillar industry for Chinese economic development, has grown rapidly along with the national economy. The average annual growth rate of crude steel production was around 18% between 2000 and 2010. China’s steel production in 2014 consumed around 580 TWh of electricity and 18,013 PJ of fuel (NBS 2015a).

The promotion and application of energy-saving technologies has become an important step for increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption of steel enterprises, especially during the 11th Five Year Plan (FYP) (2006-2010) and 12th FYP (2011-2015). During this time, energy-efficiency technologies adopted in China’s steel industry included: Coke Dry Quenching (CDQ), Top-pressure Recovery Turbine (TRT), recycling converter gas, continuous casting, slab hot charging and hot delivery, Coal Moisture Control (CMC), and recycling waste heat from sintering. The penetration level of energy-efficiency technologies in the steel industry has improved greatly in China, improving its energy efficiency and emissions reductions (Hasanbeigi et al. 2011).

Couple of years ago, my colleagues and I conducted a study that aimed to analyze influential factors that affected the energy use of steel industry in the past in order to quantify the likely effect of those factors in the future. For the first time, we developed a decomposition analysis method that can be used for the steel industry to analyze the effect of different factors including structural change on energy use of the steel industry.

The factors we analyzed were:

1. Activity: Represents the total crude steel production.

2. Structure: Represents the activity share of each process route (Blast Furnace/Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) or Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route).

3. Pig iron ratio: The ratio of pig iron used as feedstock in each process route. This is especially important for the EAF process because the higher the pig iron ratio in the feedstock of the EAF, the higher the energy intensity of EAF steel production.

4. Energy intensity: Represents energy use per ton of crude steel

In that study, a bottom-up analysis of the energy use of key medium- and large-sized Chinese steel enterprises (which account for around 85% of steel production in China) was performed using data at the process level. Both retrospective and prospective analyses were conducted in order to assess the impact of factors that influence the energy use of the steel industry in the past and estimate the likely impact in the future up to 2030.

Three scenarios were developed as follows:

o   Scenario 1: Low scrap usage: the share of EAF steel production grows slower and the pig iron feed ratio in EAF drops slower than other scenarios

o   Scenario 2: Medium scrap usage: the rate of growth in the share of EAF steel production and the drop in the pig iron feed ratio in EAF production is medium (between scenario 1 and 3)

o   Scenario 3: High scrap usage: the share of EAF steel production grows faster and the pig iron feed ratio in EAF production drops faster than other scenarios.

Figure 2 shows the energy intensities calculated for different steel production route up 2030

Figure 2. Final energy intensities calculated for key medium- and large-sized Chinese steel enterprises (2000-2030)

The results of our analysis showed that although total annual crude steel production of key Chinese steel enterprises (and most likely entire Chinese steel industry) is assumed to peak in 2030 under all scenarios, total final energy use of the key Chinese steel enterprises (and most likely the entire Chinese steel industry) peaks earlier, i.e. in year 2020 under low and medium steel scrap usage scenarios and in 2015 under high scrap usage scenario (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Total final energy use in key medium- and large-sized Chinese steel enterprises under each scenario (2000-2030)

Energy intensity reduction of the production processes and structural shift from Blast Furnace/Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) to Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel production plays the most significant role in the final energy use reduction. The decomposition analysis results showed what contributed to the reduction in the final energy use and its peak under each scenario. Figure 4 shows an example of results for Medium scrap usage scenario. 

The three scenarios produced for the forward looking decomposition analysis up to 2030 showed the structural effect is negative (i.e. reducing the final energy use) during 2010-2030 because of the increase in the EAF share of steel production in this period. Similarly, the pig iron ratio effect reduces the final energy use of key steel enterprises because of reduction in the share of pig iron used as feedstock in EAF steel production during this period. High scrap usage scenario had the largest structural effect and pig iron ratio effect because of higher EAF steel production and lower pig iron use in EAFs in this scenario.

Figure 4. Medium scrap usage scenario: Results of prospective decomposition of final energy use of key medium- and large-sized Chinese steel enterprises up to 2030

The intensity effect also played a significant role in reducing final energy use of steel manufacturing during 2010-2030. This is primarily because of the energy intensity assumptions for production processes in 2020 and 2030. While the realization of such energy intensity reduction is uncertain and remains to be seen in the future, the aggressive policies by the Chinese government to reduce the energy use per unit of product of the energy intensive sectors, especially the steel sector, are a promising sign that the Chinese steel industry is moving towards those energy intensity targets. The “Top-10,000 Enterprises Energy Saving Program” and the “10 Key Energy Saving Projects Program” along with other policies and incentives in the coming years will significantly help to reduce the energy intensity of the steel industry in China.

More details of our analysis and results are presented in our report that is published on LBNL’s website and can be downloaded from this Link.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any question. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to get the latest about our new blog posts, projects, and publications.

Some of our related publications are:

1. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Arens, Marlene; Rojas-Cardenas, Jose; Price, Lynn; Triolo, Ryan. (2016). Comparison of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Intensity of Steel Industry in China, Germany, Mexico, and the United States. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Volume 113, October 2016, Pages 127–139

2. Zhang, Qi; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn; Lu, Hongyou; Arens, Marlen (2016). A Bottom-up Energy Efficiency Improvement Roadmap for China’s Iron and Steel Industry up to 2050. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. LBNL- 1006356

3. Morrow, William; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Sathaye, Jayant; Xu, Tengfang. 2014. Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement and CO2 Emission Reduction Potentials in India’s Cement and Iron & Steel Industries. Journal of Cleaner Production. Volume 65, 15 February 2014, Pages 131–141

4. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn, Aden, Nathaniel; Zhang Chunxia; Li Xiuping; Shangguan Fangqin. 2014. Comparison of Iron and Steel Production Energy Use and Energy Intensity in China and the U.S. Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 65, 15 February 2014, Pages 108–119

5. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Morrow, William; Sathaye, Jayant; Masanet, Eric; Xu, Tengfang. (2013). A Bottom-Up Model to Estimate the Energy Efficiency Improvement and CO2 Emission Reduction Potentials in the Chinese Iron and Steel Industry. Energy, Volume 50, 1 February 2013, Pages 315-325

6. Hasanbeigi, Ali; Arens, Marlene; Price, Lynn; (2013). Emerging Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions Reduction Technologies for the Iron and Steel Industry. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BNL-6106E.

References

Editorial Board of China Iron and Steel Industry Yearbook (EBCISIY). Various years. China Iron and Steel Industry Yearbook. Beijing, China (in Chinese).

Hasanbeigi, A., Price, L., Aden, N., Zhang C., Li X., Shangguan F. 2011. A Comparison of Iron and Steel Production Energy Use and Energy Intensity in China and the U.S. Berkeley CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report LBNL-4836E.

NBS. 2015a. China Energy Statistics Yearbook 2015. Beijing: China Statistics Press.

NBS. 2015b. China Statistical Yearbook 2015. Beijing: China Statistics Press.

World Steel Association (worldsteel). 2016. Steel Statistical Yearbook 2016. 

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