Russian Federation aluminium giant UC Rusal announced earlier this week that it is now producing primary aluminium with the lowest carbon footprint thus far in the entire global metals industry.
On Tuesday, Rusal’s parent company En+ Group revealed that the firm is now capable of producing 99-percent pure aluminium with emitting less than 0.01 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per ton. The ultra-low carbon aluminium was produced at Rusal’s Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Plant (KrAZ), where it operates a cutting-edge inert anode electrolyser.
Lord Barker of Battle, Executive Chairman of En+, said in a press release that the accomplishment was part of the firm’s push to becoming a net-zero emitter of carbon.
“As part of our Net Zero commitment in January this year we announced sector-beating targets for carbon reduction – net zero by 2050 and to reduce emissions by at least 35% by 2030. Today I am proud to announce that we have made a major step forward on this journey, in a major breakthrough for the industry.”
“This is revolutionary technology in which inert anodes replace standard carbon anodes with inert, non-consumable materials – ceramics or alloys, which results in a major reduction of emissions from the smelting process,” he continued. “In comparison to full-scope industry average emissions, metal produced with inert anodes has an 85% lower carbon footprint.”
Although the firm’s current rate of output of this new low-carbon aluminium is is about 1 metric ton of aluminium per day at a current of 140,000 A, Lord Barker said it was able to produce another beneficial element at a far greater rate.
“Another breakthrough advantage of this technology is the release of oxygen in the process of aluminium production,” he concluded. “One inert anode cell can generate the same volume of oxygen as 70 hectares of forest.”