Research on the low-carbon development technology route of iron and steel enterprises under the “double carbon” target

To implement the national development goal of “carbon peak, carbon neutral” and address the bottlenecks and challenges encountered by the steel industry in the process of moving toward low-carbon development, a series of studies on policies, technologies, and action plans has been conducted. Given the current situation and changing trend of carbon dioxide emission intensity of domestic and foreign iron and steel enterprises, the reasons for the different intensities of carbon dioxide emissions were analyzed. Further, general directions for carbon dioxide emission peak and carbon dioxide neutralization development in the Chinese iron and steel industry were provided. This study also analyzed the “carbon peak, carbon neutral” targets and implementation plans of the Chinese iron and steel industry and large domestic steel enterprises. The study mainly assessed the current production, current equipment used, technological process, and actual case of carbon dioxide emissions of a large iron and steel enterprise. Future changes in production equipment, production process evolution, technological innovation, and energy transformation based on planning aspects were fully considered in this analysis. A concrete technology roadmap of low-carbon development was made for Chinese iron and steel enterprises as a guide in implementing the national goal of “carbon peak, carbon neutralization.” This roadmap emphasizes that the enterprise will encounter three stages: carbon peak stage platform, steadily declining period, and depth of decarburization. It suggests the consideration of the following: implementing six technical development path that iron element resource optimization, process optimization reconstruction, system efficiency promotion, energy structure optimization, great progress in low-carbon technology, coupling between industries, and constructing a data management system for carbon dioxide emissions, and constructing carbon footprint platforms for the full life-cycle assessment (LCA) of steel products. The analysis found that the total carbon dioxide emissions in 2025 and 2030 will be reduced by 10% and 30%, respectively, and carbon dioxide neutrality will be achieved in 2050. Additionally, the plans of enterprises for their technological paths are clarified. The expected reduction in carbon emissions owing to the implementation of each technological path toward carbon dioxide reduction is calculated. The carbon reduction effects of different technological paths are compared in various development stages. Finally, combined with the establishment and execution process of the low-carbon development technology roadmap of enterprises, some suggestions on the low-carbon development of Chinese iron and steel enterprises are provided.