What is ISO 14404‑4- Calculation method of carbon dioxide emission intensity about?
ISO 14404‑4 provides guidance for calculating the CO2 intensity at steel plants with all types of process routes, by defining the boundary, CO2 emission factors, and the intermediate products for which upstream emissions are considered for all types of process routes.
ISO 14404‑4 provides guidance applicable to the ISO 14404 series to the types of steel plants listed below.
ISO 14404‑4 also includes the Universal Calculation Sheet, which covers all relevant emission sources from ISO 14404-1, ISO 14404-2, and ISO 14404-3 to assist the calculation of CO2 emissions.
- Steel plants with different process routes from ISO 14404-1, ISO 14404-2, and ISO 14404-3
- Steel plants with more than one process route
- Steel plants purchasing pig iron from the outside
- Steel plants and rerollers purchasing part or all crude steel from outside
Moreover, ISO 14404‑4 provides additional guidance to the entire ISO 14404 series for the following topics:
- Evaluation of exported slags
- Evaluation of by-product gas
- Evaluation of stock
- Selection of calorific values and emission factors for electricity and fuel
Who is ISO 14404‑4- Calculation method of carbon dioxide emission intensity for?
ISO 14404‑4 on the calculation method of carbon dioxide emission intensity from iron and steel production is relevant to:
- Iron and steel industries
- Environmental engineers
- Carbon offset entities
Why should you use ISO 14404‑4- Calculation method of carbon dioxide emission intensity?
The steel industry recognizes the urgent need to act concerning climate change. Slowing and halting global warming requires reductions in GHG emissions on a global scale. To play a part in achieving these reductions, it is necessary for steel plants to identify the amount of CO2 emitted during the production of steel products, to identify the next opportunities for reduction of CO2.
The ISO 14404 series specifies calculation methods for the carbon dioxide (CO2) intensity of a steel plant from the amounts of the major inputs (purchased items) and outputs (sold items), such as natural resources, intermediate products, and energy. In addition, the ISO 14404 series provides the guidance to consider the activities in the boundary that are located outside of the site boundary by considering the upstream emissions of the intermediate products produced in such “outsourced steel production activities”.
Intermediate products with possibilities of considering upstream emissions include the following:
- Electricity / steam
- Substances produced in the basic activities existing in the target process route (e.g. purchased coke used in the BF - BOF route)
- Substances that substitute the iron source of the process route even if they do not exist in the target process route (e.g., purchased DRI used in the BF - BOF route)
ISO 14404‑4 provides the guidance for calculating the CO2 intensity at all types of steel plants, including steel plants. The calculation method described in ISO 14404‑4 uses basic imports and exports that are commonly measured and recorded by the plants; thus, the method requires neither the measurement of the specific efficiency of individual equipment or processes nor dedicated measurements of the complex flow and recycling of materials and waste heat. In this way, the calculation method ensures its simplicity and universal applicability without requiring steel plants to install additional dedicated measuring devices or to collect additional dedicated data other than commonly used data in the management of plants.
Overall, ISO 14404‑4 is useful as it is based on the “CO2 Emissions Data Collection User Guide” established by the World Steel Association (world steel), which consists of more than 161 major steel companies in 60 countries and regions of the world. Therefore, while world steel method applies common boundary and CO2 emission factors to all steelworks regardless of their process routes.