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Decarbonizing global steel production

Wang, Peng ; Yin, Yi Long ; Li, Zhenxi LU ; Bataille, Chris ; Franks, Daniel M. ; Watari, Takuma ; Åhman, Max LU orcid ; Nilsson, Lars J. LU orcid ; Ma, Xiao Dong and Meng, Jing , et al. (2026) In Nature Reviews Earth and Environment 7. p.374-391
Abstract

The steel industry emits 2,400–2,713 Mt CO2 and 12 Mt of fugitive methane globally each year, yet progress towards decarbonization has been limited. In this Review, we examine the potential, feasibility and barriers to decarbonization of the steel sector. The blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF–BOF) accounts for ~72% of global steel production and has the highest carbon emission intensity of existing production routes (~2.3 t CO2 tsteel−1). Conversely, the scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) route, which contributes ~23%, has the lowest carbon intensity (~0.68 t CO2 tsteel−1). China, Japan and others rely heavily on BF–BOF whereas the EAF route is... (More)

The steel industry emits 2,400–2,713 Mt CO2 and 12 Mt of fugitive methane globally each year, yet progress towards decarbonization has been limited. In this Review, we examine the potential, feasibility and barriers to decarbonization of the steel sector. The blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF–BOF) accounts for ~72% of global steel production and has the highest carbon emission intensity of existing production routes (~2.3 t CO2 tsteel−1). Conversely, the scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) route, which contributes ~23%, has the lowest carbon intensity (~0.68 t CO2 tsteel−1). China, Japan and others rely heavily on BF–BOF whereas the EAF route is favoured in a limited number of nations such as the USA. Established process-level solutions, such as enhanced energy efficiency and waste heat recovery, can reduce carbon intensities by up to 20%. Whereas reductions of over 80% can be achieved with emerging hydrogen-based and electrolysis-based technologies. For example, the carbon intensity of steel produced with hydrogen-based iron reduction technologies is ~0.4 t CO2 tsteel−1 at a cost of over US$800 tsteel−1 (compared to ~US$450 tsteel−1 for BF–BOF). These high costs, together with regional resource limitations and low technical readiness, limit widespread near-term deployment. System-wide measures, such as material efficiency, circular economy and industrial symbiosis, could contribute 30–65% of the required total emissions reduction in line with the 1.5°C target. Future work should prioritize implementing a coordinated, multi-scale approach that combines process-level innovations with system-wide strategies and region-specific policies.

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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
volume
7
pages
374 - 391
publisher
Springer International Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:105039462889
ISSN
2662-138X
DOI
10.1038/s43017-026-00786-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
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Publisher Copyright: © Springer Nature Limited 2026.
id
dd2f399a-0890-4aeb-ac94-50db306c779c
date added to LUP
2026-06-09 22:03:10
date last changed
2026-06-15 09:54:15
@article{dd2f399a-0890-4aeb-ac94-50db306c779c,
  abstract     = {{<p>The steel industry emits 2,400–2,713 Mt CO<sub>2</sub> and 12 Mt of fugitive methane globally each year, yet progress towards decarbonization has been limited. In this Review, we examine the potential, feasibility and barriers to decarbonization of the steel sector. The blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF–BOF) accounts for ~72% of global steel production and has the highest carbon emission intensity of existing production routes (~2.3 t CO<sub>2</sub> t<sub>steel</sub><sup>−1</sup>). Conversely, the scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) route, which contributes ~23%, has the lowest carbon intensity (~0.68 t CO<sub>2</sub> t<sub>steel</sub><sup>−1</sup>). China, Japan and others rely heavily on BF–BOF whereas the EAF route is favoured in a limited number of nations such as the USA. Established process-level solutions, such as enhanced energy efficiency and waste heat recovery, can reduce carbon intensities by up to 20%. Whereas reductions of over 80% can be achieved with emerging hydrogen-based and electrolysis-based technologies. For example, the carbon intensity of steel produced with hydrogen-based iron reduction technologies is ~0.4 t CO<sub>2</sub> t<sub>steel</sub><sup>−1</sup> at a cost of over US$800 t<sub>steel</sub><sup>−1</sup> (compared to ~US$450 t<sub>steel</sub><sup>−1</sup> for BF–BOF). These high costs, together with regional resource limitations and low technical readiness, limit widespread near-term deployment. System-wide measures, such as material efficiency, circular economy and industrial symbiosis, could contribute 30–65% of the required total emissions reduction in line with the 1.5°C target. Future work should prioritize implementing a coordinated, multi-scale approach that combines process-level innovations with system-wide strategies and region-specific policies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wang, Peng and Yin, Yi Long and Li, Zhenxi and Bataille, Chris and Franks, Daniel M. and Watari, Takuma and Åhman, Max and Nilsson, Lars J. and Ma, Xiao Dong and Meng, Jing and Zhang, Qi and Smith, Timothy M. and Yang, Yi}},
  issn         = {{2662-138X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{374--391}},
  publisher    = {{Springer International Publishing}},
  series       = {{Nature Reviews Earth and Environment}},
  title        = {{Decarbonizing global steel production}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43017-026-00786-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s43017-026-00786-y}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}