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

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how using hydrogen and biomass in steel production can reduce emissions and environmental impacts, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional methods.

## Contribution

The study systematically reviews LCA applications for hydrogen and biomass integration in iron and steel manufacturing, highlighting environmental benefits and trade-offs.

## Key findings

- Hydrogen integration can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90%, approximately 150 kg CO2 per ton of steel.
- Biomass integration can lead to negative emissions due to biogenic sources.
- Environmental impacts like Global Warming Impact and Fossil Resource Scarcity vary significantly across technologies.

## Abstract

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
2 eq. to 2287 kg CO
2 eq. per ton of steel and the GWI of iron ranges from -41kg CO
2 eq. to 2799 kg CO
2 eq. per ton of iron. Furthermore, the integrated technologies also have corresponding average approximate TA, FPMF, MRS, and FRS of 11 kg SO
2 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.

This systematic review aims to discuss the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to iron and/or steel manufacturing technologies where hydrogen and/or biomass is integrated into their manufacturing processes. The decarbonization of the steel industry is considered to be of paramount importance as it emits 2.21 billion tons of CO2 annually. Therefore, the use of hydrogen and/or biomass is a viable alternative towards a low-carbon iron and steel industry. LCA is one among many sustainability assessment techniques that can be used to assess the environmental profiles of emerging technologies, and in our case, the hydrogen and/or biomass integration.

According to the findings of our review, hydrogen can be integrated as a reducing agent, and biomass can be integrated as an energy source or as an alternative carbon source that can replace fossil coal fully or partially in iron and steel manufacturing. Hydrogen itself can be integrated in several proportions, such as 70%, 75%, or 100%, and it is expected to lower the CO2 emissions approximately by 90%, which is 150kg of CO2 per ton of steel. On the other hand, the integration of biomass-based sources is expected to generate negative emissions as the biomass sources are considered biogenic in most cases.

Our review is expected to provide an aggregate and a fair comparison of the emissions and environmental impacts associated with hydrogen and/or biomass integration in iron and/or steel using several impact indicators. It is also aimed at encouraging the use of LCA guidelines in a non-biased, optimal way to compute the emissions of the iron and steel industry. It is also expected to support policy decision-making and guide LCA practitioners towards relevant resources in conducting LCA studies associated with integrated and emerging technologies in the iron and steel sector.