DOE's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) - Assessment Efforts to Improve Energy Efficiency, Carbon Footprint and Profit in the U.S. Steel Industry

摘要

The steel industry is critical to the worldwide economy, providing the backbone for construction, transportation and manufacturing. The production process for manufacturing steel is energy-intensive and requires a large amount of natural resources. Energy constitutes a significant portion of the cost of steel production; up to 40% in some countries. As shown in Table I, the energy used to produce a ton of steel has decreased by about 2% from 1998 through 2002. However, the dollar cost per ton of steel increased by 35% during the same time period. Thus increasing energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve the environmental performance of this industry.