A few days ago, the 2019 (eighth) China Iron and Steel Technology and Economy High-end Forum with the theme of "Technology and Efficiency Management, Cost Reduction-New Economy Boosts High-quality Development" was held in Beijing. At the meeting, China Science News was informed that steel companies' green investment in environmental protection will continue to increase.

Qu Xiuli, vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said at the meeting that in the first three quarters, China ’s comprehensive energy consumption per ton of steel, electricity consumption per ton of steel, new water per ton of steel, chemical oxygen demand, and carbon dioxide all fell sharply. The effect is obvious. However, due to the overall increase in steel production and the continuous increase in energy consumption, the pressure on the steel industry will not be reduced overall. With the further implementation of green environmental protection indicators, the green environmental protection investment of iron and steel enterprises will continue to increase.

"Standing at a new historical starting point, China Steel's future development will present new features such as quality improvement, technological upgrades, green development, layout optimization, process optimization, merger and reorganization, etc." said Li Xinchuang, president of the Metallurgical Industry Planning Research Institute. Improving efficiency and reducing costs are not only the focus of current steel industry development, but also the important focus for achieving high-quality development.

Industry experts believe that the development of short electric furnace processes using scrap steel as raw materials can significantly improve China's steel production structure and resource structure, and reduce energy consumption. Data show that for every 10% increase in electric furnace steel ratio, the corresponding energy consumption per ton of steel is reduced by 50 kg of standard coal, and carbon dioxide emissions per ton of steel are reduced by 0.14 tons. According to China's annual steel output of 800 million tons, the annual national energy consumption can reduce 40 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 112 million tons.