When crop straw meets CO₂-intensive process industries in China: The potential of CO₂ mitigation and techno-economic analysis

Bioenergy is a renewable resource that can replace fossil fuels in process industries to effectively mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here, we propose a harmonized approach to study the GHG reduction potential and techno-economic performance of replacing fossil fuel with straw crops in the steel, chemical, and cement industries in China. Based on the statistical analysis of utilizable biomass resources, the GHG emission reduction in three industrial sectors (steel, chemical, and cement) was evaluated, which achieves 0.21 t CO₂/t steel, 0.31 t CO₂/t crude oil, and 0.12 t CO₂/t cement, respectively. Furthermore, the GHG avoidance profits of bioenergy substitution was evaluated through techno-economic analysis considering carbon pricing, which was calculated to be 338.35, 345.25, and 345.96 CNY/t CO₂ in steel, chemical and cement industries, respectively. It is estimated that straw utilization in China's industrial sectors would reduce 13.84–18.48 % of the total emission (9900 Mt CO₂), together with a carbon trading income of 17673.63–23991.44 billion CNY in 2060. Among the studied provinces, Henan, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Shandong and Jiangsu show the greatest potential of generating high GHG avoidance profits. This study provides quantitative guidance for the exploitation of China's straw resources for energy substitution in process industries to alleviate GHG emission.