Decarbonisation Options for the Aluminium Industry
The aluminium industry plays an important part in the EU economy, not only for its intrinsic value, but also as a link in the chain of other industries. This report provides an overview of the decarbonisation technologies available to the industry to enable it to fulfil its contribution to the EU’s 2030 and 2050 decarbonisation goals. Three key technologies are identified with the potential to decarbonise the aluminium industry. Carbon capture is the most developed of these, on the verge of break-even price for this industry. Hydrogen can be used to replace fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions in high temperature applications. Inert anodes have the potential to eliminate smelting process emissions while increasing efficiency, thus lowering the industry’s demand for power. It is possible for the aluminium sector to become carbon-neutral, but economic and technological barriers remain. One option is to make more use of the secondary production route, which uses 95% less energy, but the economics of this are highly dependent on the price of raw materials and scrap. Carbon costs have previously been circumvented by outsourcing production to countries with less rigorous standards. However, around 30% of global carbon is currently subject to taxation, and this proportion is growing. As technologies mature and the price of CO2 increases, the tipping point for industry-wide decarbonisation is coming closer.
ZORE Lovro;
2024-06-28
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC136525
978-92-68-15421-2 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 31925 EN,
OP KJ-NA-31-925-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC136525,
10.2760/880 (online),
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