Aluminum industry vows to go greener

subscribe

Quebec's aluminum companies said they're well on their way to meet their commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Representatives of the major aluminum companies and Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp announced they had signed an agreement to cut the equivalent of 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from 2008 to 2012. The reductions are to be verified by external auditors.

"This is a good story to tell," Beauchamp said. "It shows that companies can become more environmentally friendly and it can result in economic benefits."

The aluminum industry in Quebec emits the equivalent of 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, so the reduction represents about six per cent of the total emissions.

Since 1990, Quebec companies have reduced their overall carbon footprint by about 10 per cent, largely by updating to more energy-efficient equipment.

John Bennett, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, commended aluminum companies for their efforts, but said the technology to save electricity has been around for several years.

"It should have been mandated a long time ago, but the aluminum companies are very powerful," Bennett said. "We're very pleased that they're finally going to do it. We'll be watching carefully that they'll meet their targets."

Bennett said he's pleased the aluminum industry is actively working to reduce greenhouse gases, and other industries should follow suit.

Aluminum requires a lot of electricity to produce, so the industry benefits every time it becomes more energy efficient, said Jean Simon, North American president of Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal.

He said new factories consume about half as much electricity as the old ones and produce about 40 per cent more aluminum.

Simon added recycling old aluminum also helps reduce emissions, since it takes about a tenth of the energy to recycle aluminum than producing it for the first time.

Related News

scotland power

Clocks are running slow across Europe because of an argument over who pays the electricity bill

LONDON - Over the past couple of months, Europeans have noticed time slipping away from them. It’s not just their imaginations: all across the continent, clocks built into home appliances like ovens, microwaves, and coffee makers have been running up to six minutes slow. The unlikely cause? A dispute between Kosovo and Serbia over who pays the electricity bill.

To make sense of all this, you need to know that the clocks in many household devices use the frequency of electricity to keep time. Electric power is delivered to our homes in the form of an alternating current, where the direction…

READ MORE

The Haves and Have-Nots of Electricity in California

READ MORE

solar power construction

Coronavirus could stall a third of new U.S. utility solar this year: report

READ MORE

nb power

Electricity subsidies to pulp and paper mills to continue, despite NB Power's rising debt

READ MORE

Multi-billion-dollar hydro generation project proposed for Meaford military base

READ MORE