Do steel industrial policies make a difference? LCA-based quantification of environmental impacts and cost benefits from steel production in China

Abstract

China's steel industry, dominated by the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) long-route process, faces significant environmental sustainability challenges, including high environmental impacts, substantial energy consumption, elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and elevated operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. To identify pathways for improvement, this study quantifies impacts across key metrics and compares the environmental and economic performance of the current typical BF-BOF long-route, electric arc furnace (EAF) short-route, and hybrid steelmaking processes based on producing one ton of hot-rolled steel. Our findings reveal a striking advantage for the EAF short-route. The transition from the BF-BOF long-route to EAF short-route steelmaking process can reduce environmental impacts by 78 %, energy consumption by 88 %, GHG emissions by 75 %, and O&M costs by 6 %. Furthermore, we demonstrate that combining process optimizations with increased integration of sustainable energy sources holds significant potential to further enhance both the environmental sustainability and economic viability of China's steel production. This research underscores the critical role of shifting towards EAF-based production and adopting integrated sustainability measures in driving decarbonization and improving the competitiveness of China's steel industry.