Above: Rio Tinto Canada operates smelters in Alma, Sept-Iles, Becancour and Saguenay, Quebec, and in Kitimat, British Columbia.

Tech giant, two producers and the governments of Canada and Quebec launch carbon-free aluminum future

July 2018 - Reduce, reuse, recycle. This is the mantra for proponents of environmental responsibility. In May, Alcoa Corp. and Rio Tinto announced a five-party, $188-million investment in an effort to commercialize, to production scale, a carbon-free aluminum smelting process.

Developed in the research laboratory of Alcoa Corp., the process has gained the financial backing of Rio Tinto, Apple Corp. and the governments of Canada and Quebec. The first smelter using this technology will start up in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec within six years.

Details of the patent-pending process were not disclosed but metallurgical research and trials have been ongoing since 2009, according to the partners, which formed a joint venture called Elysis. Elysis is headed by CEO Vincent Christ, who has 30 years of technology leadership experience at Rio Tinto.

What’s been revealed so far is that the byproduct of this new process to make aluminum is oxygen, instead of the greenhouse gas emitted by traditional smelting.

Apple, arguably the most valuable technology brand in the world, explained its interest in this partnership simply: Aluminum is a key material in many Apple products. As part of its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its products through innovation, Apple agreed to help accelerate the smelting technology with $13 million in startup funds.

“Apple is committed to advancing technologies that are good for the planet and help protect it for generations to come,” CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We look forward to one day being able to use aluminum produced without direct greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing of our products.”

Apple’s involvement started in 2015, when three of its engineers went in search of a cleaner, better way of mass producing aluminum. After meeting with aluminum companies, independent labs and startups around the world, a trio of Apple engineers found their answer at Alcoa Corp.

Alternative process

Aluminum has been mass produced the same way since 1886, when it was pioneered by Alcoa founder Charles Hall. The process involves applying a strong electrical current to alumina (electrolysis), which removes oxygen. Smelters today use a carbon material that burns during the process, producing greenhouse gases.

Alcoa developed an alternative process that replaces carbon with an advanced conductive material, so it releases oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. With this understanding, Apple business development personnel brought Rio Tinto in as a partner for Alcoa. Together, they are investing $55 million. Canada and Quebec each ponied up $60 million. The government of Quebec will have a 3.5 percent equity stake in Elysis with the remaining ownership split evenly between Alcoa and Rio Tinto.

The lure of this venture for Canada and Quebec isn’t merely long-term job creation. In Canada, the technology could eliminate the equivalent of 6.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, if fully implemented at existing aluminum smelters in the country. That represents an amount roughly equal to taking nearly 1.8 million light-duty vehicles off the road.

The smelting technology is already in use at the Alcoa Technical Center, outside Pittsburgh, and this project will invest more than $30 million at the R&D facility. Elysis will develop and license the technology so it can be used to retrofit existing smelters or build new facilities. Elysis will also sell proprietary anode and cathode materials, which it claims last more than 30 times longer than traditional components.

During a launch event May 10, Alcoa CEO Roy Harvey and Rio Tinto Chief Executive-Aluminum Division Alf Barrios each thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard for their support.

“It is a great honor to be in the cradle of the aluminum industry, in Quebec,” said Harvey.

“This is a landmark moment that has the potential to change the aluminum industry. It is important to be done here in Quebec, where Rio Tinto and Alcoa started in 1901,” Barrios added.

“The adoption of this technology will represent a landmark in our fight against climate change,” said Trudeau. The potential of the new smelting process is “not limited to aluminum. Aluminum is used to make automobiles and other consumer goods. This will help us to meet [climate] accords and protect the environment.”

“We are at the right place, at the right time, to take part in the decisions” made by Elysis and its partners, Couillard said. “Quebec is at the forefront of aluminum technology now and only consolidates its position with this economic partnership.”

Carbon-free aluminum production makes Canada and the United States more competitive, he said. “Think about aluminum manufacturers in Asia and elsewhere, which produce aluminum with coal. We had a huge advantage by using hydroelectricity. We are ahead by having greener aluminum and the best quality. This is how we build a prosperous, equitable Quebec of the future.”

Sarah Chandler, Apple senior director of operations and environmental initiatives, said at the launch that Apple “is so thrilled to be part of this effort because it demonstrates the awesome power innovation has to change our world for the better.

“We are constantly searching for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint and this breakthrough in aluminum production will hopefully help to do that. Not just for us,” she said, “but for manufacturing across the globe.”

The bottom line

“At Apple, in everything we do we want to transform not just ourselves but those we partner with across all of our operations. We are looking forward to a future where all Apple products are made of recyclable or renewable materials. We reject wholeheartedly the notion that you can’t protect the environment while protecting your bottom line. It’s a false choice,” Chandler said. “This new method of aluminum production isn’t just greener, it’s also less expensive. You can do well by doing right. We look forward to building a cleaner future with all of you.”

According to Harvey, the global aluminum sector has pursued technology like this for decades. “This is the product of many people’s life’s work. The new technology will improve production, reduce costs and show progress in our environmental performance.”

Using the new process “will make the smelters more competitive in cost, in the amount of metal they produce and by providing a sustainable product that is becoming increasingly important to modern consumers,” Rio Tinto’s Barrios said. “This technology offers a pathway to altering the carbon footprint in everyday products from cans and foil to cars and planes. It makes products infinitely recyclable, stronger and lighter and more fuel efficient.” MM