Decarbonising the iron and steel sector for a 2 °C target using inherent waste streams.
other · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35027534.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-27770-y and PMC identifier 8758725.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry, contributing approximately 8% of current global anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, is challenged by the persistently growing global steel demand and limitations of techno-economically feasible options for low-carbon steelmaking. Here we explore the inherent potential of recovering energy and re-using materials from waste streams, high-temperature slag, and re-investing the revenues for carbon capture and storage. In a pathway based on energy recovery and resource recycling of glassy blast furnace slag and crystalline steel slag, we show that a reduction of 28.5 ± 5.7% CO<sub>2</sub> emissions to the sectoral 2 °C target requirements in the iron and steel industry could be realized in 2050 under strong decarbonization policy consistent with low warming targets. The technological schemes applied to engineer this high-potential pathway could generate a revenue of US$35 ± 16 and US$40 ± 18 billion globally in 2035 and 2050, respectively. If this revenue is used for carbon capture and storage implementation, equivalent CO<sub>2</sub> emission to the 2 °C sectoral target requirements is expected to be reduced before 2050, without any external investments.