7 Development of Low Carbon Technology in China’s Iron …
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train of events in the beginning of 2020 heaped the risk of economic crisis, for which
iron and steel industry should be adequately prepared to safeguard the achievements
in energy conservation and emission reduction.
By energy consumption types, the composition of energy usage remains quite
stable, with the proportion of coal increasing from 66.48% in 2000 to 75.41% in
2017 due to less application of petroleum, natural gas and biomass in iron and steel
industry. Most of the coal is consumed in BF ironmaking, of which little room for
energy consumption reduction is left (Wang et al. 2019). In fact, bigger share of
coal is a positive effect of reduced consumption of other energy in iron and steel
industry, implying that increasing the share of clean energy, finding substitutions
for coal and improving coal efficiency are viable approaches for further progress in
energy conservation and emission reduction in iron and steel industry.
The average energy consumption intensity of China’s iron and steel industry in
2015 was 0.796tce/t crude steel (approximately 23.33 GJ/t), which breaks down into
0.575tce/ t crude steel (approximately 16.85 GJ/t) for leading steel plants −72%
of the national average and 1.624 tce/t crude steel (approximately 47.59 GJ/t) for
small and medium-sized steel plants, or 2 times of the national average. In 2015,
China’s benchmark steel enterprises for green development (national benchmark for
short) were TISCO and Baosteel, with an energy consumption intensity of 0.547 tce/t
crude steel (approximately 16.03 GJ/t) and 0.598 tce/t crude steel (approximately
17.53 GJ/t) respectively, i.e. 0.7 times and 0.8 times of national average. Large
and medium-size iron and steel enterprises in China rank among the first echelon
worldwide in term of comprehensive energy consumption, about 10% higher than
the global average (20.86 GJ/t). The main cause is that small and medium steel mills
in the industry featuring high energy consumption still produced about 20% of iron
and steel in China, indicating the necessity to enhance the industrial concentration
(Liu 2016).
In terms of CO 2 emissions, iron and steel industry worldwide contributes to
approximately 5% of total CO 2 emissions from human activities; however, this
proportion exceeds 12% in China (Hu 2016). With higher iron to steel ratio, small
proportion of EAF, lower industry concentration and small capacity of unit facility, in
2010, CO 2 emissions from China’s iron and steel industry accounted for 51% of the
world’s total CO 2 emissions; while this percentage was 12% for EU, 8% for Japan,
7% for Russia, 5% for US and 17% for the rest of the world (Xu 2010). These figures
show that China’s iron and steel industry emits far more CO 2 than other countries. In
2009, China produced 46.3% of the world’s crude steel but caused 51% of global CO 2
emissions. A rough comparison would lead to the conclusion that China’s emission
intensity is far higher than other countries.
In terms of pollutant discharges, as indicated in Table 7.1, in 2015, pollutant
discharges per unit of energy consumption of iron and steel industry were as follows:
5.59 kg/ton standard coal for dust and fume, 2.71 kg/ton standard coal for SO 2 ,
1.63 kg/ton standard coal for NO x (referred to as national average); the dust (fume)
emission and SO 2 emission by large and medium-size key iron and steel enterprises
were respectively 0.3 time and 0.6 time of the national average; while for SMEs,
these figures were respectively 2.0 times and 1.6 times, and for TISCO, a benchmark
227
train of events in the beginning of 2020 heaped the risk of economic crisis, for which
iron and steel industry should be adequately prepared to safeguard the achievements
in energy conservation and emission reduction.
By energy consumption types, the composition of energy usage remains quite
stable, with the proportion of coal increasing from 66.48% in 2000 to 75.41% in
2017 due to less application of petroleum, natural gas and biomass in iron and steel
industry. Most of the coal is consumed in BF ironmaking, of which little room for
energy consumption reduction is left (Wang et al. 2019). In fact, bigger share of
coal is a positive effect of reduced consumption of other energy in iron and steel
industry, implying that increasing the share of clean energy, finding substitutions
for coal and improving coal efficiency are viable approaches for further progress in
energy conservation and emission reduction in iron and steel industry.
The average energy consumption intensity of China’s iron and steel industry in
2015 was 0.796tce/t crude steel (approximately 23.33 GJ/t), which breaks down into
0.575tce/ t crude steel (approximately 16.85 GJ/t) for leading steel plants −72%
of the national average and 1.624 tce/t crude steel (approximately 47.59 GJ/t) for
small and medium-sized steel plants, or 2 times of the national average. In 2015,
China’s benchmark steel enterprises for green development (national benchmark for
short) were TISCO and Baosteel, with an energy consumption intensity of 0.547 tce/t
crude steel (approximately 16.03 GJ/t) and 0.598 tce/t crude steel (approximately
17.53 GJ/t) respectively, i.e. 0.7 times and 0.8 times of national average. Large
and medium-size iron and steel enterprises in China rank among the first echelon
worldwide in term of comprehensive energy consumption, about 10% higher than
the global average (20.86 GJ/t). The main cause is that small and medium steel mills
in the industry featuring high energy consumption still produced about 20% of iron
and steel in China, indicating the necessity to enhance the industrial concentration
(Liu 2016).
In terms of CO 2 emissions, iron and steel industry worldwide contributes to
approximately 5% of total CO 2 emissions from human activities; however, this
proportion exceeds 12% in China (Hu 2016). With higher iron to steel ratio, small
proportion of EAF, lower industry concentration and small capacity of unit facility, in
2010, CO 2 emissions from China’s iron and steel industry accounted for 51% of the
world’s total CO 2 emissions; while this percentage was 12% for EU, 8% for Japan,
7% for Russia, 5% for US and 17% for the rest of the world (Xu 2010). These figures
show that China’s iron and steel industry emits far more CO 2 than other countries. In
2009, China produced 46.3% of the world’s crude steel but caused 51% of global CO 2
emissions. A rough comparison would lead to the conclusion that China’s emission
intensity is far higher than other countries.
In terms of pollutant discharges, as indicated in Table 7.1, in 2015, pollutant
discharges per unit of energy consumption of iron and steel industry were as follows:
5.59 kg/ton standard coal for dust and fume, 2.71 kg/ton standard coal for SO 2 ,
1.63 kg/ton standard coal for NO x (referred to as national average); the dust (fume)
emission and SO 2 emission by large and medium-size key iron and steel enterprises
were respectively 0.3 time and 0.6 time of the national average; while for SMEs,
these figures were respectively 2.0 times and 1.6 times, and for TISCO, a benchmark