On March 22nd, the “Roundtable on Carbon Neutralization in the Steel & Iron Industry” was held via online video conference and live video broadcast. Leaders and authoritative experts from domestic and foreign policy institutions, enterprises and scientific research institutes of the steel and iron industry conducted in-depth discussions on hot topics, including the challenges and opportunities faced by the industry in pursuing the vision of carbon neutralization and the path of low-carbon transformation. With the theme of “Making Full Efforts to Promote Carbon Emission Reduction in the Steel & Iron Industry and Helping to Improve the Global Climate”, and focused on the opportunities and challenges presented by the goal of carbon neutralization, Shougang has expressed its aspirations to resolutely implement the national strategy, accelerate and upgrade green manufacturing, and jointly promote the green and low-carbon development of the steel and iron industry.

At the recently held National People's Congress and Chinese Political Consultative Conference , “peak carbon dioxide emissions” and “carbon neutralization” were written into the government work report for the first time, emphasizing the need to do a solid job in all aspects of “peak carbon dioxide emissions” and “carbon neutralization”, and optimize the industrial structure and energy structure. As a large carbon emitter, the steel and iron industry faces great opportunities and challenges. The “Roundtable on Carbon Neutralization in the Steel & Iron Industry” aims to establish a platform for domestic and foreign steel and iron enterprises to communicate with each other, offer advice and suggestions regarding the climate targets, and release a sustainable development roadmap for the steel and iron industry in line with the carbon neutralization targets. The conference was sponsored and undertaken by the China Society for Environmental Sciences, World Iron and Steel Development Research Institute, Hebei Society for Environmental Sciences and Beijing Shougang Co., Ltd. Speeches were successively made by Deputy Secretary General of the China Society for Environmental Sciences Liu Hongzhi, Deputy Secretary General of the China Society for Environmental Sciences Peng Bin, Secretary General of the World Steel Association Edwin Basson, General Manager of the Shougang Group Liu Jianhui and Vice President of the World Iron and Steel Development Research Institute Li Yiren. 

Liu Jianhui introduced Shougang’s practice of promoting the in-depth treatment and emission reduction of pollutants, and the optimized exploration of the carbon footprint and carbon flow process. He said that Shougang always takes “serving the country with steel” as its original intention and mission, adheres to the new development concept of “innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared”, adheres to the road of high-quality development in green, intelligent, high-quality and lean manufacturing and precision services, and contributes steel strength to achieve the goals of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutralization.

In recent years, Shougang has carried out the extensive exploration of carbon footprint and carbon flow process optimization while promoting the in-depth treatment and reduction of pollutants; actively optimized the process structure and energy structure, and intensified efforts to control the fuel ratio and reduce the consumption of fossil energy; taken advantage of energy consumption in the pelletizing process, adjusted the equipment configuration of pelletizing and firing in the pre-iron process, increased the proportion of furnace charge pellets and reduced energy consumption in the blast furnace process; and strengthened technological breakthroughs in the recovery and utilization of scrap steel resources, and increased the proportion of scrap steel in converters under the conditions of the boundary profits of steel scrap resources and the technical requirements of product quality.

It is necessary to actively promote the replacement of clean energy; study and explore the access conditions of renewable energy sources for enterprises, optimize the cleanness of the power supply and increase the proportion of renewable energy sources; follow up on progress in energy technology, study and explore the popularization and application of oxygen-enriched combustion technology, increase the rich oxygen content of blast furnaces, study the application and economic analysis of natural gas in the blast furnace process and the blending combustion technology of coke oven gas, and promote the replacement of clean energy in a planned way; and optimize the structure of logistics transportation, increase the proportion of rail transportation, implement reasonable warehousing and reshipment, and reduce the total amount of transportation in the plant.

It is necessary to adhere to the R&D of high-end electrical steel technology and focus on promoting, researching and developing green steel products. Non-oriented high-grade and oriented high magnetic induction and thin specification electrical steel products maintain a leading position, guiding the continuous progress of the energy consumption level in the application field of national electromechanical equipment. Shougang carries out product extension services and management to help downstream customers develop energy-saving and carbon reduction technology routes; reduces the demand for steel throughout society by using steel with high strength, high toughness, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance and long service life; and meets the technical characteristics and requirements of downstream products, and reduces the total carbon emissions of steel products in the whole life cycle through the integration and application of structural lightweight design, lightweight materials and lightweight manufacturing technology.

According to the report, the participants discussed the two topics of “development status and climate challenges in the steel & iron industry” and “green and low-carbon development path of the steel & iron industry under the vision of carbon neutralization”. At the meeting, Liu Hongzhi, Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, issued the initiative to “promote the green and low-carbon transformation of industries, and achieve carbon neutralization”.