Cost and potential of energy conservation and collaborative pollutant reduction in the iron and steel industry in China

This study investigated the cost and potential of energy conservation and collaborative pollutant emission reduction in the iron and steel industry in China. A total of 24 technologies were selected, and their investments, operation costs, energy saving benefits, abatement benefits, abatement coefficients and popularising rates were collected and calculated using the 2013 data as the baseline. A new parameter, APeq, reflecting the characteristics of energy conservation and multi-pollutant collaborative emission reduction was set up. The conservation and emission reduction supply curves (CERSCs) were analysed. These 24 technologies resulted in the abatement of SO2, NOx, PM10, CO2 and APeq to 621.6 kt, 398.9 kt, 390.2 kt, 291.1 Mt and 699.5 kt, respectively. The influences of discount rates and weight factors on the abatement supply curves were also discussed. Results show that, with the increase in the discount rate, the abatement costs increase and the amount of that abatement cost below zero decreases. Finally, the pollutant reductions in three key areas in China were analysed. The reduction potentials of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta are 107, 79 and 13 kt, respectively, and the corresponding abatement costs are 7.52, −51.54 and −1.76 billion Yuan. Policymakers can choose suitable and economic technologies according to the calculation of the CERSCs.