IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-59730-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Yihan Wang

    (The University of Hong Kong)

  • Chen Chen

    (The University of Hong Kong
    Guangzhou University)

  • Yuan Tao

    (Renmin University of China)

  • Zongguo Wen

    (Tsinghua University
    Daxing District)

Abstract

Hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (H2-DRI) is crucial for decarbonizing the steel sector but is limited by the availability of renewable energy. Here, we propose H2-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 H2-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. H2-DRI can decarbonize steel production to 0.15–0.91 t CO2 t-1 steel at the moderate scale, but the emissions would raise by up to over sixfold at the aggressive scale. Furthermore, H2-DRI fueled by solar and wind energy exhibits poorer economic and water usage performance at the aggressive scale. We highlight the necessity of avoiding excessive H2-DRI deployment and recommend prioritizing its implementation in steel units located in regions with abundant solar and wind sources nearby.

Suggested Citation

  • Yihan Wang & Chen Chen & Yuan Tao & Zongguo Wen, 2025. "Uneven renewable energy supply constrains the decarbonization effects of excessively deployed hydrogen-based DRI technology," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-59730-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59730-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59730-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-59730-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-59730-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.