On November 28^th and 29^th, the Carbon Neutrality Frontiers 2024 was held in Beijing, hosted by the Carbon Neutrality Branch of the China Metallurgical Society and co-organized by the USTB and the Liaoning Academy of Materials. Academicians, experts, and practitioners from home and abroad gathered to discuss and exchange ideas on topics such as low-carbon ironmaking and hydrogen metallurgy, low-carbon steelmaking, high-quality utilization of recycled metal materials, construction of green and low-carbon industrial chains, life cycle assessment (LCA), carbon trading markets and carbon asset management, and policy directions for carbon neutrality.

The Carbon Neutrality Frontiers 2024

Prof. GAN Yong, the Honorary President of the Chinese Society for Metals, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Academician of the CAE, Prof. MAO Xinping, Director of the Carbon Neutrality Branch of the Chinese Society for Metals, Academician of the CAE , Dean of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality of USTB, and the President of this conference, Prof. JIANG Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the China Iron and Steel Association, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association, Prof. ZHAO Pei, the former Executive Deputy Chairman and Consultant of the Chinese Society for Metals,  and Prof. SUN Jinghong, Vice Chancellor of USTB, attended the meeting and delivered a speeches.

Other experts attending the conference included Prof. YIN Ruiyu, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry and Academician of the CAE, Prof. John Neil Loughhead, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Foreign Academician of the CAE, and Foreign Academician of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Prof. WANG Haizhou, Academician of the CAE, Prof. XIE Jianxin, Academician of the CAE, Prof. LI Wei, Academician of the CAE, Prof. SHAO Anlin, Academician of the CAE, Prof. NIE Zuoren, Academician of the CAE and President of North China University of Technology, Prof. YUE Qingrui, Academician of the CAE, Prof. LIU Zhengdong, Academician of the CAE, Prof. JIANG Tao, Academician of the CAE, Prof. WU Aixiang, Academician of the CAE, WU Aixiang. In addition, Prof. YAO Lin, Chairman of Sinomine Resource Group Co. LTD, Prof. GAO Ruiping, former Deputy Director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Prof. ZHANG Lifeng, Vice Chancellor and President of North China University of Technology (NCUT), Prof. WANG Hua, Vice Chancellor and President of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Prof. ZHANG Weidong and Prof. WANG Luning, Vice Presidents of USTB, as well as more than 60 leaders from related enterprises and over 10 leaders from universities and research institutions also attended the conference.

Participants of the Conference

Prof. ZHANG Weidong, Vice President of USTB, presided over the opening session of the conference, while Prof. ZHANG Lifeng, President of NCUT and Prof. LI Hongxia, the Chief Scientist of China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Refractories, successively hosted the keynote speech session.

Prof. GAN Yong delivered a speech

Prof. GAN Yong stated that the challenges we face are not only in technological innovation and equipment upgrading, but also in how to integrate resources, deepen cooperation, and use artificial intelligence in the information age to promote the innovative research and development and application of low-carbon technologies.

Prof. MAO Xinping delivered a speech

Prof. MAO Xinping made it clear that holding the Carbon Neutrality Frontiers 2024 is one of the important tasks of the newly established Carbon Neutrality Branch of the Carbon Neutrality Branch of the Chinese Society for Metals, aiming to promote international and domestic academic exchanges. The conference mainly reflects the characteristics of being cutting-edge and international.

Prof. JIANG Wei delivered a speech

Prof. JIANG Wei introduced a series of work and achievements made by the China Iron and Steel Association since 2021 to accelerate the realization of the "Dual-Carbon" goal in the steel industry. He stated that green and low-carbon transformation is the strategic focus for future competition in the iron and steel sector.

Prof. ZHAO Pei delivered a speech

Prof. ZHAO Pei mentioned that the "low-carbon" transformation and "carbon neutrality" of China's steel industry need to be in line with the national conditions of China, and comprehensively promoted from various aspects such as policy, technological innovation, energy structure adjustment, multi-industry collaboration, market mechanism improvement, and international collaboration.

Prof. SUN Jinghong delivered a speech

Prof. SUN Jinghong stated that green and low-carbon transformation in the steel industry, and energy-saving and carbon-reducing green development are of great significance for realizing the carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals. Developing new low-carbon processes, achieving low-carbon and environmentally friendly transformation, and harmonious coexistence with human society and cities are the consensus among steel industry professionals.

Then Prof. John Neil Loughhead delivered a keynote speech titled Global Challenge of Carbon Neutrality. He provided a detailed introduction to the global challenges of achieving carbon neutrality and shared the UK's experience and philosophy on carbon emission reduction, stating that public acceptance of new technologies, a shortage of engineers and technicians, and the lack of a unified coordinating delivery organization are common challenges to achieving carbon neutrality worldwide. Prof. NIE Zuoren gave a keynote speech titled Innovation in Carbon Neutrality Technology and Life Cycle Engineering Theory and Practice in Process Industries. He stated that carbon peak and carbon neutrality will bring about a significant transformation in the socio-economic and environmental landscape, driven by a technological revolution, comparable in significance to the third industrial revolution. Carbon neutrality is a systematic project that must focus on technological coupling, system integration, and industrial collaboration to achieve deep emission reductions across the entire life cycle. Prof. DING Yulong, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, delivered a keynote speech titled Decarbonization of Basic Industries - Cross-Domain (Process) Coupling Integration and Challenges. He analyzed the challenges faced by industrial transformation under climate change and the goal of carbon neutrality, explored the main technological paths to achieving carbon neutrality, and emphasized the necessity of energy storage technology in this process. Prof. ZHANG Xiliang, President of China Emissions Trading Association and Director of the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University, gave a keynote speech titled Interpretation of China's Carbon Market Policies and Suggestions for the Steel Industry's Response. He provided a detailed interpretation of China's carbon emission reduction and carbon pricing policy system, indicating the direction of development for the steel industry under the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

According to the conference agenda, Prof. ZHANG Jianliang, Dean of the School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering USTB, Prof. HAO Xiaodong, Member of the Standing Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Iron & Steel Research Institute Group Co., Ltd. and Director of the Hydrogen Metallurgy Center, Prof. ZHANG Kaijun, General Manager of the Ironmaking Department of Sinosteel Engineering & Technology Co., Ltd., Prof. ZHU Rong, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy of USTB, Prof. YANG Chunzheng, First-Class Scientist of Shougang Group, Prof. YANG Libin, Deputy Director of the Metallurgical Process Research Institute of Central Iron & Steel Research Institute, Prof. Clare Broadbent, Head of Sustainable Development Projects of the World Steel Association, Prof. LIU Yinghao, Director of Low-Carbon Technology of Baowu Central Research Institute, Prof. WANG Junfeng, General Manager of Ningbo Factory of SKF (China) Co., Ltd., Prof. FENG Jianbin, Executive President of the Carbon Neutrality Committee of the Hebei Green Low-Carbon Recycling Development Association, Prof. LIU Qiang, Director of the Energy Security and New Energy Research Office of the Institute of Quantitative & Technical Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Secretary-General of the Global Energy Security Think Tank Forum, Prof. XIE Tao, Vice President of Beijing SDL Technology Co., Ltd., Prof. ZHANG Shengen, Member of the Party Committee and Dean of the School of Physics and Materials of Nanchang University, Prof. Ulrich Krupp, Professor and Director of the Institute of Steelmaking of RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Zushu Li, Professor of the Advanced Steel Research Center of the University of Warwick, Prof. CAO Chaozhen, Technology Manager of Sustainable Development of Marketing of BHP, Prof. Filippo Placidi, Technical Director of Carbon Steel of DITH, Prof. LI Menglong, Chief Researcher of the Strategy Research Institute and Deputy Director of the Sustainable Development Research Center of HBIS Group, successively delivered over ten high-quality reports on the frontier of carbon neutrality. These reports elaborated on the latest research findings in the field of carbon neutrality from different perspectives, reflecting the development potential of carbon neutral technologies.

Draft: LIU Yujie

Revision:  CHENG Mingyuan & LIU Benyuan