RMI Releases Report that Maps the Pathway for China to Pursue Zero-Carbon Steel

BEIJING, Sept. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, RMI releases its latest report, Pursuing Zero-Carbon Steel in China—A Critical Pillar to Reach Carbon Neutrality, which analyzes the specific path of China's steel industry to reach zero-carbon by 2050. The report finds that it is technically and economically feasible for the steel industry to decarbonize through demand reduction, steel recycling and switching to green routes.

China produces and consumes more than half of the world's steel, accounting for about 17 percent of the country's carbon emissions. This makes the steel industry the country's second largest carbon emitting sector. The decarbonization of China's steel industry will be a significant contribution to the country's dual-carbon goals and the world's carbon reduction goal.

The report, as one of the first in China to provide a decarbonization roadmap of the steel industry, makes a preliminary analysis of the energy consumption structure of China's steel industry. It estimates that under the zero-carbon scenario, China's steel demand will accelerate to peak and decline rapidly, and the product structure, energy consumption structure, and production process will undergo great changes. The report maps out three steps for the industry's decarbonization.

• Demand reduction: Under the zero-carbon scenario, China's steel production will peak in 2024 and decline to 621 million tons per year in 2050—40 percent lower than the 2020 level. The main reasons for the decline are new phases of industrialization and urbanization. The peaking and declining of the steel industry are further accelerated by the carbon emissions reduction target, which is a new constraint.
• Steel recycling: China's secondary steel production will change from a supporting role to a mainstay, accounting for up to 60 percent of total steel production by 2050. The transformation of secondary steel from a supporting role is driven by China's steel stock and scrap resources security, as well as potential favorable costs in the future through supportive policies as the scrap recycling market gradually matures.
• Switching to low-carbon alternatives: Hydrogen direct reduced iron, smelting reduction with coal or hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage will all be important green steelmaking routes to China. These methods will produce 250 million tons in total by 2050, resulting in a significant decrease in fossil-fuel-based steel production, from 90 to 20 percent.

"Compared with other major steel-making countries, China's steel industry is perhaps facing bigger challenge in terms of decarbonization for at least three reasons: much deeper reliance on coal as fuel and feedstock, much younger operating assets and a much larger portion of primary steel production. It therefore requires much greater efforts to achieve net zero in the next 30–40 years for the country. Nevertheless, as our report clearly shows, it is technically and economically possible to overcome these challenges and reach full decarbonization at the pace that China's carbon neutrality goal requires," Said Ji Chen, principal of RMI, main author of the report. 

"The decarbonization of the steel industry will make an important contribution to China's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060," notes Ting Li, regional managing director and chief representative of RMI's Beijing office. "The low-carbon transformation of the industry will be driven by emerging new technologies and market changes. RMI hopes to collaborate with partners to help scale up new solutions to accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry."

This in-depth exploration of the steel industry builds on RMI and Energy Transitions Commission's 2019 report China 2050: A Fully Developed Rich Zero-Carbon Economy, which provides a comprehensive vision of a zero-carbon scenario for China's entire economy.

RMI released this report at China's Steel Industry Zero-Carbon Transformation Forum held in Beijing by RMI.

To read the full report, visit RMI website at  https://rmi.org/insight/pursuing-zero-carbon-steel-in-china/

About RMI

RMI is an independent nonprofit founded in 1982 that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to align with a 1.5°C future and secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all. We work in the world's most critical geographies and engage businesses, policymakers, communities, and NGOs to identify and scale energy system interventions that will cut greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent by 2030. RMI has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Oakland, California; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing.

More information on RMI can be found at www.rmi.org or follow us on Twitter @RockyMtnInst.

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