Description:
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. Electrification from RES as well as three key technologies are identified with the potential to decarbonise the aluminium industry. Direct electrification of processes is an integral part of the decarbonisation, compounded by the ambition to decarbonize electricity generation in the EU 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. The aluminium sector can 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 availability of scrap. 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.