GHG Emission Reduction

In all regions, aluminium producers are investing in innovative solutions that reduce their environmental impact aligned with the industry’s three GHG emissions pathways, aiming to support global climate goals by 2050. This map shows a growth of projects from 16 identified projects in 2021, to 50 in 2022.

PATHWAY

1

Electricity
Decarbonization

More than 60% of the aluminium sector’s 1.1 billion tonnes of CO2e emissions (2018) are from the production of electricity consumed during the smelting process. Decarbonised power generation and the deployment of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) offer the most significant opportunity to reduce emissions to near zero by 2050.
PATHWAY

2

Direct Emission
Reduction

Electrification, fuel switching to green hydrogen and CCUS offer the most credible approach to reduce emissions from fuel combustion, while new technologies, such as inert anodes, can lower process emissions.

PATHWAY

3

Recycling and
Resource Efficiency

Increasing collection rates, along with other resource efficiency actions, would reduce the need for primary aluminium by 20%, which in turn could cut the sector’s annual emissions by around 300 million tonnes of CO2e.