How can China’s steel industry further save energy and increase efficiency?

On June 17, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other 14 departments issued a notice confirming June 29 to July 5 this year as the National Energy Conservation Promotion Week, with the theme of "green water and green mountains, energy conservation and efficiency"; The day of July 2rd is National Low-Carbon Day, with the theme of "Green and Low-Carbon, Comprehensive Well-off". In recent years, as an important pillar industry for the development of the national economy, the iron and steel industry has actively implemented Xi Jinping's ecological civilization thought, and has made important contributions to promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, green and low-carbon development in China.

On June 28, when the National Energy Conservation Publicity Week was approaching, a reporter from China Metallurgical reported on the achievements made by the steel industry in promoting energy conservation, emission reduction, and green and low-carbon development since the 13th Five-Year Plan and the direction of future efforts, interviewed the responsible comrades of China Iron and Steel Association for energy conservation and environmental protection.

Since the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", China's steel industry has achieved remarkable results.

"China Metallurgical News" reporter: Would you please talk about what achievements and experiences have been achieved in the promotion of structural energy saving, technological energy saving and management energy saving in China’s steel industry since the "13th Five-Year Plan"?

Head of Energy Conservation of the Steel Association: Since the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", the steel industry has accelerated transformation and upgrading, implemented various energy conservation and environmental protection measures, and actively promoted green and sustainable development of the industry. Energy conservation and consumption reduction have achieved remarkable results.

As the forerunner of supply-side structural reforms, the iron and steel industry has completed the 5-year upper limit target task of eliminating excess capacity of 100 million tons to 150 million tons. The supply-side structural reform of the steel industry has achieved good results in removing capacity, which has cleared the obstacles for the long-term healthy development of the steel industry, eliminated the "stubborn diseases", boosted confidence, and laid the foundation for the steel industry to develop further green and high quality . The strict implementation of the Energy Conservation Law has promoted steel capacity reduction, which in turn has promoted steel energy conservation and consumption reduction. With the continuous improvement of the utilization rate of steel production capacity, in 2019, the comprehensive energy consumption per ton of steel of steel association members has been reduced to 552.96 kg of standard coal, a decrease of 3.3% compared with 2015.

Since the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", the steel industry has entered an important period of vigorously promoting advanced technical measures for energy conservation and emission reduction. Iron and steel energy saving has also undergone significant adjustments in the process structure such as continuous casting and rolling, which has achieved significant results, and has shifted to system energy conservation led by advanced energy-saving technologies represented by "three dries and three uses" and the construction of energy management and control centers. Over the past ten years, through the efforts of enterprises in the whole industry and the effective organization and promotion of the Environmental Protection and Energy Conservation Working Committee of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, the energy conservation concept of steel companies has become more and more in-depth, and the integration of energy conservation and environmental protection has become closer and closer. In the long run, with the continuous accumulation and supply of scrap steel resources, the innovation of short-process technology, the further expansion of low-carbon metallurgy and clean energy will inject new impetus into energy-saving and low-carbon steel.

Proposal to upgrade low-carbon metallurgy technology to national industrial development strategy

"China Metallurgical News" reporter: This year, the theme of the National Low Carbon Day is "green and low carbon, comprehensive well-off." Could you please tell us what other efforts the steel industry needs to make to reduce carbon emissions?

Head of Energy Conservation of the Steel Association: Industrial carbon emissions mainly come from the burning of fossil fuels in production. Therefore, most regions in China have adopted coal control policies. In fact, coke used in steel production is mainly used for reduction reactions, and some European countries regard it as a reducing agent rather than a fuel. Of course, from the perspective of energy saving and low carbon, Chinese steel still needs to further reduce coal consumption. The penetration rate of advanced and applicable coal-saving and emission-reducing technologies of Chinese steel enterprises is already quite high. Therefore, from the perspective of the national steel industry transformation and upgrading strategy, it is imperative to promote breakthroughs in low-carbon metallurgical technology innovation. (source from China Metallurgical News)