Accelerated decarbonisation of steelmaking, oil refining and petrochemical industries is essential for climate change mitigation. Drawing on three longitudinal case studies of these industries in the UK, this synthesis article makes a comparative analysis of their varying low-carbon reorientation speeds. The paper uses the triple embeddedness framework to analyse five factors (policy support, international competition, financial health, technical feasibility, corporate strategy and mindset) that explain why UK oil refineries have in recent years been comparatively the fastest in their low-carbon reorientation and UK steelmakers the slowest. We find that policy support has been more beneficial for refining and petrochemicals than for steel, although recent government deals with steelmakers addressed this imbalance. International competition has been high for steel and petrochemicals and comparatively lower for refining (meaning that decarbonisation costs are less detrimental for international competitiveness). Financial performance has comparatively been worst for steel and best for oil refining, which shapes the economic feasibility of low-carbon options. Hydrogen and carbon-capture-and-storage are technologically feasible for refining and petrochemicals, while Electric Arc Furnaces are technically feasible for steelmakers but face wider feasibility problems (with scrap steel supply, electricity grids, and electricity prices), which is why we question the recent government deals. Corporate strategy and perceptions changed in oil refining, with firms seeing economic opportunities in decarbonisation, while steelmakers and petrochemical firms still mostly see decarbonisation as a burden and threat. The paper ends with comparative conclusions, a discussion of political considerations, and future outlooks for the three UK industries, policy, and research.

中文翻译：

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解释英国钢铁、石化和炼油行业低碳转型的不同速度：多维度比较分析和展望

炼钢、炼油和石化行业加速脱碳对于减缓气候变化至关重要。这篇综合文章借鉴了英国这些行业的三个纵向案例研究，对它们不同的低碳转型速度进行了比较分析。本文使用三重嵌入框架分析了五个因素（政策支持、国际竞争、财务健康、技术可行性、企业战略和心态），解释了为什么英国炼油厂近年来在低碳转型和转型方面相对最快。英国钢铁制造商速度最慢。我们发现，政策支持对炼油和石化产品比对钢铁更有利，尽管政府最近与钢铁制造商达成的协议解决了这种不平衡问题。钢铁和石化行业的国际竞争非常激烈，而炼油行业的国际竞争相对较低（这意味着脱碳成本对国际竞争力的影响较小）。钢铁的财务表现相对最差，炼油的财务表现最好，这决定了低碳选择的经济可行性。氢气和碳捕获和储存对于炼油和石化来说在技术上是可行的，而电弧炉对于钢铁制造商来说在技术上是可行的，但面临着更广泛的可行性问题（废钢供应、电网和电价），这就是我们质疑的原因最近的政府交易。炼油领域的企业战略和观念发生了变化，企业看到了脱碳的经济机会，而钢铁制造商和石化企业仍然大多将脱碳视为负担和威胁。本文最后给出了比较结论、政治考虑的讨论以及英国三个产业、政策和研究的未来展望。