Reducing the Carbon Footprint: Primary Production of Aluminum and Silicon with Changing Energy Systems

Abstract

The world now pushes for a low-carbon future, and international goals for greenhouse gas emission reductions have been set. Industrial processes, including metallurgical processes, make up more than a fifth of the total global emissions, and those have been rising with infrastructure development and the expansion of the middle-class worldwide. This paper focuses on two energy-intensive processes, aluminum production and metallurgical grade silicon production, and how the carbon footprints from these industrial processes have developed in recent decades. The main trend is that the increased demand for these metals has led to expanding primary production for both of them, based on energy with an increasing share of fossil-based electric power. In fact, the average carbon footprint of the energy used in aluminum and silicon production has increased by 38% and 43%, respectively, from 2000 to 2019. The change in energy mix offsets any progress in process efficiencies. This work addresses this and discusses opportunities for improvements. Graphical Abstract

Strategic cost and sustainability analyses of injection molding and material extrusion additive manufacturing

“…The stock CR10S-Pro and upgraded Ender 5 3D printers provide a constant part cost of 0.849 and 0.344 USD, respectively. 1 1 USD 1.0 0.263 [51] 2 1 kWh 0.151 [52] 0.433 [44] 3 1 kg of PLA 2.00 [53] 1.47 [54] 4 1 kg of Steel 1.65 [55] 1.40 [56] 5 1 kg of Aluminum 3.85 [57] 12.9 [58] 6 1 h labor 24.97 [50] 6.57 [50,51] T These results imply the importance of printer selection and adaptation. The Ender 5 is a smaller and lower cost printer that, when upgraded, provides much faster printing and thus lower costs.…”

Впровадження Стратегій Індустрії 4.0 Та Циркулярної Економіки В Переробці Алюмінієвого Брухту

“…Among the areas of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union is the creation of production facilities for waste processing (National Institute for Strategic Studies). Recycling of aluminum corresponds to the set goal; researchers define aluminum as a perfect metal for circular economy (Graedel et al, 2019;Saevarsdottir et al, 2021;Stewart et al, 2018;Yuzer et al, 2022). What is also important, implementation of circular economy measures in the aluminum industry positively affects the ecological conditions, facilitating the Green Deal (Han et al, 2017;Haupt & Hellweg, 2019).…”

Carbon Footprint Study on Renewable Power Plants: Case Study on Egypt's Benban Solar Park

“…The average CFP of energy used in aluminum production increased by 38% and silicon by 43%. This is from 2000 to 2019 [14]. The crashing car (CS) plays a key role in environmental improvements as an innovation in low-carbon transport to mitigate the CFP associated with transport [15].…”