Assessments of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stainless steel production in China using two evaluation approaches

Abstract

In recent years, global warming has become a growing concern around the world, and greenhouse gases (GHG) are its major cause. In the current study, the GHG emissions from stainless steel production in Mainland China was evaluated based on two approaches. One (i.e., Approach I) was based on the data, which were collected from a life cycle inventory database (Ecoinvent). The second evaluation (i.e., Approach II) was performed according to the 2015 comprehensive energy consumption data of the Chinese stainless steel industry. When Approach I was employed, the results demonstrated that 1.44 kg CO2‐e of total GHG emissions were generated for producing 1 kg of stainless steel. When adopting Approach II, the average GHG emissions based on comprehensive energy consumption from four stainless steel manufacturers in Mainland China were calculated to be 1.76 kg CO2‐e/kg stainless steel. Further, the main hotspot area of GHG emissions for stainless steel production was found to be the blast furnace (BF) process, based on Approach I. Accordingly, employing an independent electric arc furnace (EAF) instead of a BF‐EAF, as well as choosing clean technologies and updating obsolete and low‐efficiency equipment, is recommended. It is expected that these two approaches can help stakeholders formulate a sustainable strategy for stainless steel production. And more broadly, provide some insights into adopting an appropriate framework for the evaluation of GHG emissions in industrial areas. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: 47–55, 2019

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