Carbon Reduction Programs and Key Technologies in Global Steel Industry

Greenhouse gases, particularly the carbon dioxide, cause global warming and extreme weather, which has become a serious threat to human beings. The steel industry creates enormous amounts of carbon emission and has tremendous potential in carbon reduction. Considering the consistently increasing demand of iron and steel, to obtain significant carbon reduction by reducing the steel production is not practical, thus the development and implementation of carbon reduction programs and technologies is important for the steel industry. Despite the significant potential of carbon reduction in the steel industry, ironmaking and steelmaking processes are complex. Therefore, researches and developments for the carbon reduction must focus on key processes. Here, key processes and technologies adopted in ULCOS program in EU, COURSE 50 program in Japan, POSCO program in South Korea, AISI programs in US and other carbon reduction programs are summarized and evaluated, and feasible suggestions for carbon reduction in developing countries are presented. If effective measures can be referred to and taken in developing countries, global carbon emission can be greatly reduced.