Mitigating aluminium industry emissions: industrial carbon management could reduce costs – JRC Publication

A new report released by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) confirmed industrial carbon management (ICM) as a range of promising technologies for mitigating CO₂ emissions, in particular in energy-intensive industries such as the aluminium industry. Some adjustments will be required to tailor the process to the specific sector. Decarbonising the aluminium sector is challenging mostly because the production of alumina, the main ingredient in aluminium, is energy-intensive (the primary aluminium industry emitted 2.75 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2022 in the EU, equivalent to 9.4 million newly registered passenger cars in the EU in 2022 driving 2,705 km each). Therefore, reducing its emissions is essential for the industry to contribute to the EU’s 2030 and 2050 decarbonisation targets.  

The JRC’s report assesses four decarbonisation options (inert anodes, hydrogen, electrification and ICM) and concludes that ICM is among the technologies at hand with the largest potential to mitigate emissions in this sector.  More info and sources available at https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/mitigating-aluminium-industry-emissions-industrial-carbon-management-could-reduce-costs-2024-07-01_en