Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Uneven renewable energy supply constrains the decarbonization effects of excessively deployed hydrogen-based DRI technology

Yihan Wang, Chen Chen, Yuan Tao, Zongguo Wen

Nature Communications · 2025

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Summary

Hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (H<sub>2</sub>-DRI) is crucial for decarbonizing the steel sector but is limited by the availability of renewable energy. Here, we propose H<sub>2</sub>-DRI deployment schemes in China's steel sector at moderate and aggressive scales, incorporating three renewable energy sources with a resolution of 1 km × 1 km across 570 steel units. Results indicate that 52.6-55.8% of China's current steel units lack sufficient renewable energy supply for H<sub>2</sub>-DRI deployment due to uneven distribution of these energy sources. Renewable energy can fulfill 97-100% of hydrogen demand at the moderate scale, whereas the aggressive scale requires supplemented fossil fuels accounting for one-third to one-half. H<sub>2</sub>-DRI can decarbonize steel production to 0.15

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1038/s41467-025-59730-1
Catalogue ID
SNmoimwunf-urrlw8
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