{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T21:01:33Z","timestamp":1791406893400,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":164,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Under China\u2019s \u201ccarbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060\u201d targets, the low-carbon transformation of the ironmaking stage\u2014which contributes approximately 70% of the CO2 emitted per ton of steel in the dominant blast furnace\u2013basic oxygen furnace (BF\u2013BOF) route\u2014is decisive for decarbonizing the steel industry. In contrast to earlier reviews that describe individual technologies in isolation, this review provides a structured, cross-technology synthesis: the main routes are classified into short-\/medium-term low-carbon blast furnace technologies (hydrogen-rich carbon-recycling oxygen blast furnace, hydrogen-rich injection, biomass char injection and ultimate energy-efficiency measures) and medium-\/long-term non-blast furnace technologies (hydrogen-based shaft furnace direct reduction, smelting reduction, rotary hearth furnace, fluidized-bed reduction and electric smelting reduction) and are then compared on a common set of quantitative indicators\u2014CO2 mitigation, specific energy and hydrogen demand, technology readiness level (TRL) and relative cost. On this basis, emerging hydrogen-based flash ironmaking, developed from the interdisciplinary integration of \u201ciron and steel\u2013non-ferrous metallurgy\u2013hydrogen metallurgy\u2013plasma\u201d, is critically assessed, with a clear separation between laboratory\/pilot feasibility and industrial readiness. We conclude that low-carbon blast furnace technologies, owing to low retrofit cost and high maturity, will dominate near-term mitigation, whereas hydrogen-based shaft furnaces and, in the longer term, hydrogen-based flash ironmaking define the pathway toward near-zero-carbon ironmaking\u2014conditional on the availability of green hydrogen and low-carbon electricity and on overcoming key engineering barriers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19153163","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T15:05:42Z","timestamp":1784819142000},"page":"3163","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Research Progress on Low-Carbon Ironmaking Technologies for China\u2019s Iron and Steel Industry Under the Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Wenwen","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Advanced Iron and Steel Processes and Products, Central Iron and Steel Research Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"Technology Center, Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., Taiyuan 030003, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Renjie","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haokun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Technology Center, Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., Taiyuan 030003, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanhong","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Advanced Iron and Steel Processes and Products, Central Iron and Steel Research Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2","article-title":"Discussion on the development direction of future ironmaking technology and Baosteel\u2019s exploration and practice","volume":"55","author":"Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Iron Steel"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"224","article-title":"Low-carbon transition pathways of China\u2019s iron and steel industry under global temperature control targets","volume":"54","author":"Li","year":"2019","journal-title":"Iron Steel"},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"9","article-title":"Roadmap for coal control and carbon reduction in the iron and steel industry under the \u201cdual-carbon\u201d goals","volume":"43","author":"Xue","year":"2022","journal-title":"Environ. 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