Decarbonisation of steel production by the low‐carbon DRI‐EAF route

Abstract

The effects of climate change, induced by global warming, are leading to huge economic, environmental and social impacts worldwide. The world is considered to be in a state of climate emergency, and urgent decarbonisation measures are required to control the temperature rise and mitigate such effects. In this context, EU targets for decarbonisation are to reduce, at least 55% of GHG emissions until 2030, and then to become climate‐neutral, by 2050. The steel industry, being among the biggest producers of CO2, is committed to fulfil this goal. However, the production of 1 tonne of steel, in the coal‐dependent BF/BOF route, can lead to about 2.3 tonnes of CO2, and this route is responsible for more than half of all steel produced in EU. Therefore, finding alternative breakthrough technologies to reduce CO2 emissions is a priority for the steel industry, and different decarbonisation strategies are being implemented in different European plants. Such strategies include the optimization of the DRI and EAF route. This paper focused on this strategy and it was found that the combined route DRI and EAF, based on green hydrogen and carbon free electricity, may reduce CO2 emissions in about 98% compared to the BF/BOF route.