Climate change is the main environmental issue for the global aluminium industry. The full process of manufacturing new stocks of aluminium is responsible for 1% of the global human-induced greenhouse gas emissions that scientists with the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identify as a cause of global warming.

Primary (new) metal production is responsible for 0.4% and production of the energy required to turn alumina into aluminium makes up a further 0.6%. To put the total for aluminium in perspective, it is less than the entire emissions output of Australia (about 1.4%), a modern industrial nation of 20 million people.

The challenge for the industry lies in the relatively high-energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of primary aluminium. In 2005 the industrial processes (mining, refining, smelting and casting) of the primary aluminium industry were directly responsible for emitting 140 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, about 30 million tonnes of which originated from two perfluorocarbon compounds (PFCs) - tetrofluormethane (CF4) and hexofluormethane (C2F6).

On average the smelting process produces 1.6 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of aluminium (from the consumption of the carbon anodes) and the equivalent of an additional tonne of CO₂ from PFC emissions. PFCs are potent global warming gases as compared to carbon dioxide and have long atmospheric lifetimes. For example one kg of PFC (CF4) is equivalent to 6500 kg of CO₂.

The industry employs a lifecycle approach to address the challenges of climate change, focusing not only on the energy required to produce aluminium products but also on the energy savings to be made through their use and reuse. It is in the use phase that the majority of energy is consumed. For example, up to 30 times more energy is required to power a car over its lifetime than is required to produce the aluminium used in its manufacture. And after its use, by dismantling and recycling a vehicles’ aluminium, up to 95% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production of the metal from bauxite is saved.

Climate change is a challenge that the aluminium industry shares with everyone who participates in the global economy, businesses and individuals alike. As the world moves to combat climate change, the aluminium industry is moving too. The metal’s immense versatility means that smart uses will be an important part of finding solutions across many applications, and the market for aluminium will grow and diversify as a result.

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