Prospective LCA of E‐Methanol Along the Transformation of Steel Industry

ABSTRACT The steel industry is considering switching from the blast furnace‐basic oxygen furnace (BF‐BOF) route to the hydrogen‐based direct reduction (DR) route. This transformation will affect the availability of steel mill gases (SMGs) for carbon capture and utilization (CCU). This research article investigates the environmental consequences of the transformation on e‐methanol produced by CCU. Non‐combustion of SMG reduces climate change impacts, whereas the substitution of the lost energy output influences the other impact categories. The CCU‐methanol routes are better than reference methanol in almost two‐thirds of all environmental impact categories. Cleaner production of steel, copper, and concrete for renewables is imperative to achieve holistic reductions in all/majority of impact categories.