The green manufacturing, energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection status of Chinese steel enterprises have made significant progress in recent years.
I. Green Manufacturing
- Exploration of low-carbon metallurgical processes: Some large steel enterprises, such as Baowu Steel and Hebei Iron and Steel, have made progress in low-carbon metallurgical processes, promoting the development of steel production towards more environmentally friendly and efficient directions.
- Optimization of industrial structure: The adjustment speed of the steel industry’s product structure has accelerated significantly, with the proportion of manufacturing steel increasing from 42% in 2020 to 48% in 2023, reflecting new achievements in the industry’s transformation towards high-end, intelligent, and green development.
- Green product certification: Some regions such as Hebei have carried out green and low-carbon product certification and transition finance practices, providing new models for the green development of the steel industry.
II. Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction
- Ultra-low emission transformation: By the end of 2023, a total of 116 steel enterprises had undergone ultra-low emission transformation and assessment monitoring. Among them, 89 enterprises with a crude steel production capacity of approximately 426 million tons had completed the full-process ultra-low emission transformation, exceeding half of the national overall target.
- Efficient utilization of water resources: The water reuse rate in the steel industry continues to increase, and the new water consumption per ton of steel has been significantly reduced, indicating that various water use indicators have reached international leading levels.
- Application of energy-saving technologies: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has released the “National Industrial Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Technology Application Guide and Cases (2024 Edition)”, which involves seven types of energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies in the steel industry, including non-heating and rolling forming technology, hydrogen-rich carbon recycling oxygen blast furnace low-carbon metallurgy technology, and more.
III. Environmental Protection
- Pollutant emission control: The active efforts of Chinese steel enterprises in environmental protection have resulted in a downward trend in sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxide emissions per ton of steel.
- Utilization of waste slag: The waste slag generated in steel production is effectively utilized, with the production of blast furnace slag decreasing and the utilization rate reaching 99.1%, demonstrating the industry’s achievements in resource recycling.
- Improvement in energy utilization efficiency: While the output of blast furnace gas, converter gas, and coke oven gas increases, the utilization rate is also improving, indicating improvements in the energy utilization efficiency of the industry.
