May 8 2008
Aluminium is saving CO2 in many ways. To explain how, Hydro is participating at the current Carbon Expo. The fair and conference in Cologne, Germany, is a global meeting point for companies operating on the CO2 market.
EXPLAINING: Bernhard Eich, head of Hydro's primary plant in Neuss, and the Hydro team at the Carbon Expo in Cologne explained the energy efficiency of aluminium to visitors. (Photo: Holger Köster)
Hydro is sharing a stand with the German aluminium company Trimet in the German pavillion, at the invitation of the German Emission Trading Authority, which is part of the Federal Ministry for Environment.
“Hydro is committed to helping solve the global climate challenges. Our aluminium is part of the solution, and we are happy to show this and have it acknowledged by our partnership with the German government”, says Irmtraud Pawlik, managing director of Hydro in Germany.
Aluminium, although energy intensive to primarily produce, is nevertheless able to directly reduce the carbon footprint of cars, by replacing conventional materials.
When aluminium solutions help to minimize the overall weight of an automobile by e.g. 200 kilograms, less fuel is consumed and this leads to savings of 4,000 kg CO2 at a mileage of 200,000 km.
Recycling reduces the CO2 footprint of an aluminium component even further, by about 80%. And aluminium can be recycled again and again, using only 5% of the energy needed for primary production.
In Germany, the remelting rate amounts to 100 percent in the production chain; more than 90% is recycled in the traffic sector, more than 85% in construction, and a total of 75% in packaging.
These are all major markets, where aluminium products benefit energy-efficient solutions in many ways.