Low-Carbon Development for the Iron and Steel Industry in China and the World: Status Quo, Future Vision, and Key Actions
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper evaluates the low carbon development of the iron and steel industry (ISI) in China. The paper provides an overview of technology roadmaps and low carbon developments for the ISI of major producers in the world and evaluates key decarbonization actions available for China. Policy and research recommendations are provided at the end.
The novelty of the manuscript is not clear because it offers a review of ISI technologies that are considered in other countries and does not build a specific scenario for China. Cost figures are missing in the analysis. The conclusions (Line 751) state that the Chinese government must provide financial support but there is a lack of cost assessment in the paper. What is the basis for such final remark? Economic aspects about the technologies and their penetration in the market are missing. A prospective scenario with future ISI product projections is missing to support the key actions presented in Figure 13. It is not clear how such actions were identified and what is the share of each one to achieve net zero emissions in 2060. Moreover, the effect of efficiency technologies might be offset by fuels switch. That is, if the goal is reducing CO2 emissions, and green hydrogen is the supplied energy, the effect of energy efficiency. in terms of CO2 reduction, is almost null.
The manuscript is clear and objective but some minor editing could enhance its quality even more:
Line 30: consider deleting “to”
Line 33: consider using “Following”
Line 41: consider “supporting economic development” and “unique properties: strength, formability…”
Line 49: consider “making CO2 emissions hard to abate”
Figure 1: consider “grey literature reports”
Line 153: please consider using either “metric ton” or “tonne”
Line 156: usually scrap/EAF steel contains impurities such as Cu and other metals. The automotive industry usually demands steel from BF/BOF and iron ore due to its high quality and purity. Please check this information.
Line 159: consider “renewable energy sources”
Line 166: consider “sponge iron”
Line 343: consider “/tcs”
Line 344: consider “per tonne of crude steel”
Line 349: consider “located at Pittsburg in the US”
Line 640: consider “Currently, less attention is paid…”
Author Response
Thank you very much for your attention and the valuable comments on our manuscript. We have read your comments carefully and responded to them one by one. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper “Low-carbon development for the iron and steel industry in China and the world: Status quo, future vision, and key actions” is interesting.
Some words are not correct. For example, red words in the abstract.
The paper should cite some newest literatures in the introduction to shows the importance of carbon emission reduction and other environmental pollution reduction. For example, as the following literatures.
Foreign Direct Investment’s Impact on China’s Economic Growth, Technological Innovation and Pollution.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(6):2839. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062839
Impact of Corporate Environmental Responsibility on Investment Efficiency: The Moderating Roles of the Institutional Environment and Consumer Environmental Awareness, Sustainability 2019, 11(17), 4512. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174512 (registering DOI)
I think it is valuable after revise for accepted publication.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you very much for your attention and the valuable comments on our manuscript. We have read your comments carefully and responded to them one by one. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This paper provides a timely and comprehensive review following the technology roadmap framework covering the status quo, future vision, and key actions of low-carbon development pathways around the world and China’s iron and steel industry, and tries to point out key priorities for the low-carbon development in China’s iron and steel industry.
General comment
The paper is clear with appropriate references. The layout of the present paper is well-organized through five sections. Section 1 is an introduction, Section 2 is the framework of the technology roadmap. Section 3 is a brief description of the iron and steel metallurgical process. Section 4 is a comprehensive overview of the low-carbon technology roadmap around the global ISI. Section 5 comprehensively reviews the status and vision and evaluated the potential of key actions towards the low-carbon ISI in China. Thought these sections are given main contributions of this paper. This paper provided a timely and comprehensive overview of the low-carbon technology roadmap around the main steel-producing countries in the world, covering the status quo, future vision, and key actions. Reference to the low-carbon technology roadmap published by other steel-producing countries and the actual situation in China, key actions available for the decarbonization of China’s ISI are evaluated one by one, including improving energy efficiency, shifting to Scrap/EAF route, promoting material efficiency strategy, and deploying radical innovation technologies. Suggestions on the policy recommendations and next-step research priorities are given for the low-carbon development of China’s ISI.
Specific comment
Throughout the work to change CO2 in CO2.
Line 40: The sentence „As we all know, steel is a basic material supporting the economic development with unique properties…“. Please re-write without „As we all know,…“.
Line 54: The sentence „supporting building and infrastructure construction, machinery manufacturing, and so on [6]“. Please re-write in „supporting building and infrastructure construction, machinery manufacturing, and etc. [6]“.
Line 219: The sentence „global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius…“. Please re-write „ global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C …“.
Line 648: Please give a definition of “Circular Economy” with appropriate reference
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you very much for your attention and the valuable comments on our manuscript. We have read your comments carefully and responded to them one by one. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
The study is well written on the topic related to sustainable development to reduce carbon emissions from the iron and steel industry in China and the world. The study found four vital factors to achieve the green developmental agenda, including, improving energy efficiency, shifting to Scrap/EAF route, promoting material efficiency strategy, and deploying radical innovation technologies. The study needs to add more current literature on the topic and align the results with them. The policy recommendations need more discussion on the practical ground related to mitigating carbon emissions.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your attention and the valuable comments on our manuscript. We have read your comments carefully and responded to them one by one. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
I am satisfied with the responses provided by the authors and the cost figures included in the manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
The article has been greatly improved and agreed to be published in its current form.
