Fig. 1: The spatial distribution of steel units and renewable energy sources.

a Spatial distribution of steel units in China. Each point is a steel plant that includes one or more steel units. The size of the points is related to the annual steel output of the plant. b Electricity generation potential of solar energy. c Electricity generation potential of wind energy. d Biomass energy potential by stock of biomass. GWh: Gigawatt-Hour. Base map data of China are adapted from GS(2024)0650 sourced from http://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/ and created using ArcGIS 10.8. Detailed steel units and renewable energy potential data are provided in Zenodo repository89.