Aluminum industry getting greener

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

Representatives of the major aluminum companies and Environment Minister Line Beauchamp held a news conference outdoors in the Old Port yesterday to announce that they are on track to meet targets set in 2007, cutting the equivalent of 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from 2008 to 2012. They will 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."

She said the reductions will also help make Quebec's aluminum producers be more competitive, since they'll be able to exceed compulsory targets for emissions reductions slated for 2012.

The aluminum industry in Quebec emits the equivalent of 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, so the reductions represent 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, the 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.

"We're working on installing new technology, but also in many other ways we can become more energy efficient," Simon said.

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

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, Simon added.