Description:
Improving environmental performance of energy- and carbon-intensive sectors represented by iron and steel (IS) is of utmost importance to address the challenges of resource depletion and climate change worldwide. This article adopts a global-super-Epsilon-Based Measure (EBM) model with undesirable output for IS energy efficiency estimation and analyzes various pathways for efficiency improvement by grouping Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Empirical test using statistical data of the G20 economies demonstrates that: 1) energy efficiency in IS sector in G20 countries has risen amidst fluctuations, with developed countries performing significantly more efficiently than developing countries; 2) individual factors do not constitute a compulsory condition to achieve high energy efficiency in IS sector; 3) among the countries with high energy efficiency in IS sector, a total of four realization groupings are presented, which can be summarized into three paths: technology-energy structure driven, policy-economy-technology driven, and strong economy driven. Heterogenous policy recommendations for the efficiency gains in the IS sector of countries with unique features are proposed accordingly