Hydrogen and biomass-based carbon source integration for iron and steel manufacturing: A systematic review of Life Cycle Assessment studies

<ns3:p>Iron and steel manufacturing is a material-intensive, energy-intensive, and emission-intensive process that is focused on attaining carbon neutrality. An important step towards decarbonizing iron and steel manufacturing is quantifying the environmental impacts associated with its potentially sustainable emerging technologies. In this study, we conducted a systematic review of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applications that integrated hydrogen and/or biomass in iron and steel production. We categorized various technologies following an LCA approach, focusing on the definition of goal and scope and impact categories of Global Warming Impact (GWI), Terrestrial Acidification (TA), Fossil Resource Scarcity (FRS), Mineral Resource Scarcity (MRS), and Fine Particulate Matter Formation (FPMF). According to the findings, GWI of steel ranges from -845 kg CO<ns3:sub>2</ns3:sub> eq. to 2287 kg CO<ns3:sub>2</ns3:sub> eq. per ton of steel and the GWI of iron ranges from -41kg CO<ns3:sub>2</ns3:sub> eq. to 2799 kg CO<ns3:sub>2</ns3:sub> eq. per ton of iron. Furthermore, the integrated technologies also have corresponding average approximate TA, FPMF, MRS, and FRS of 11 kg SO<ns3:sub>2</ns3:sub> eq., 3 kg PM 2.5 eq., 83 kg CU eq., and 304 kg oil eq. per ton of iron. This study reinforces the significance of exploring hydrogen and/or biomass integration options as it generates significant environmental benefits in terms of GWI as opposed to the conventional steel-making technologies. It also presents possible environmental impact displacements associated with hydrogen and/or biomass integrations in iron and steel manufacturing. Additionally, the results derived from this review also aim to weigh the current coverage of LCA studies in this area to assist future research in integrating hydrogen and/or biomass into the iron and steel industry.</ns3:p>