Green Aluminium Center

The growth potential for low-carbon aluminium in auto applications

It is not surprising, given the recent push to become more carbon neutral, that automakers have started to express greater interest in using not just more aluminium, but more low-carbon aluminium, in their vehicles.

EN+, other producers step up their GHG emissions reduction targets

Over the past several years, the global aluminium industry has taken many steps aimed at addressing climate change by not only producing green products, but also by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Solutions for sustainable construction and renovation - BioNova

The whitepaper outlines the challenge for the construction sector in reducing its contribution to climate change, where construction materials manufacturing, use, and end of life cause 11% of all global carbon emissions, and where global building stock will double by 2060.
The whitepaper discusses the potential for low carbon aluminium to reduce embodied carbon in buildings and analyses the potential impact in typical commercial buildings, tenant renovation projects and also when low carbon aluminium is used for specific house parts such as aluminium windows and partition walls.
The report also looks at the business case for low carbon aluminium, touching on increasing compliance and certification credits that favour the use of sustainable construction materials, and customer expectations that construction companies are environmentally responsible. According to the report, nearly all green building certification systems, including LEED and BREEAM, favour products and suppliers that can demonstrate low-carbon products and solutions. It also mentions that governments are moving embodied carbon agenda forward with regulatory preparations

The case for low carbon primary aluminium labelling - The Carbon Trust

The Carbon Trust contends that, with recycled aluminium unable to satisfy demand, a means of identifying low-carbon primary aluminium is needed. It notes the lack of consistency among definitions for low-carbon aluminium, both with regards to the threshold for carbon intensity and the scope of the footprint being measured.
In response to this challenge, the whitepaper seeks to establish a clear methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of primary aluminium that accounts for the specific source of electricity used in the production process. It notes that this source of electricity is by far the most resource intensive aspect of the electrolysis process, accounting for nearly 70% of primary aluminium’s carbon footprint. With its methodology, the Carbon Trust aims to establish the basis of a qualification criteria for materials to carry a low-carbon aluminium label. Crucially, it writes, such a label and the measurement calculations supporting it, would ideally be used by many primary aluminium producers, presenting purchasers with a valued common label of what can be regarded ‘lower carbon primary aluminium’.
The Carbon Trust concludes that the ‘lower carbon primary aluminium’ label should be defined by the threshold of 4tCO2e per tonne of aluminium for the process emissions from aluminium electrolysis, anode production and aluminium casting. It believes the carbon footprint measurement should follow the IAI’s methodology, with a uniform approach to electricity impact accounting. Emissions labelling should, it argues, begin with the IAI’s Level 1 standard of disclosure, before expanding out to full cradle-to-gate transparency by early 2023. Moreover, in order for the aluminium sector to stay on course with science-based targets aligned to the Paris Agreement goals, the Carbon Trust adds that the threshold level for this label should be reviewed regularly.

EN+ group sets sector beating targets for GHG emissions reduction

18 January 2021 - EN+ GROUP IPJSC (the "Company", "En+" or the "Group") (LSE: ENPL; MOEX: ENPG) has announced its ambition to become net zero by 2050 and to reduce greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions by at least 35% by 2030.

Trafigura and Financing Partners establish "Low Carbon Aluminium" financing facility

8 September 2020 - Trafigura Group Pte Ltd. (“Trafigura”), a market leader in the global commodities industry and one of the world’s chief independent aluminium traders, has established a ‘low carbon aluminium’ financing platform of up to USD500 million. Natixis and Rabobank supported Trafigura in the design and structuring of this innovative instrument.

 

Constellium lobbies for continued use of aluminium in U.S. space programme

04 Mar 2021. Constellium SE, a supplier on NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, has met with a senior congressional delegation to advocate for the continued use of aluminium in the U.S. space programme.

 

Alcoa says 78% of 2020 production was from renewable energy

03 Mar 2021. Renewable energy powered 78% of the aluminium produced at Alcoa smelters in 2020, up from 70% in 2019, president and chief executive officer Roy Harvey has revealed.