Jun 16 2005
Alcoa has announced that its researchers have developed a global sustainability model that forecasts the use of additional recycled metal and the use of aluminum in the transportation market will make aluminum greenhouse gas (GHG) neutral by 2017 - making the aluminum industry the first in the world that can establish the claim.
"Alcoa is helping to lead the global aluminum industry in making aluminum climate neutral," said Randall M. Overbey, president, Alcoa Primary Metals Development. "Given the great attributes of aluminum - it is easy to recycle, strong and yet lightweight - the industry will be able to reach a climate neutral state by 2017. There's no other industry that we are aware of today that can make this claim, which will help solve global warming."
Reaching a climate neutral state means that the global warming impacts of aluminum production will be fully offset by the amount of carbon dioxide emissions saved by its use in the transportation industry.
"As Alcoa leads this change, we will share our learnings with others as part of our climate change initiatives so that we can leverage the knowledge, much like we have done with our safety programs," Overbey said.
Today's announcement came at The Conference Board's 2005 Business and Sustainability Conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. As the world's leading business membership organization, The Conference Board is comprised of a global network of nearly 2,000 enterprises in 61 countries.
"The high strength-to-weight ratio of aluminum allows car manufacturers to produce safe, exciting vehicles that their consumers want and that are environmentally friendly," Overbey said. "Aluminum is truly part of the solution to produce vehicles that provide maximum safety - both environmentally and in the design."
Alcoa has maintained a leadership position on climate change by meeting and maintaining its 2010 goal of reducing GHG emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels. In his presentation, "Sustainability: What More Should Companies Do?", Overbey announced numerous other leadership steps to which Alcoa has committed including:
- commissioning the engineering to expand the company's North America capacity and flexibility for recycling aluminum;
- investing in more efficient turbines for the company's hydroelectric systems and pursuing more green power technologies;
- working in various forums with customers, competitors, non-governmental organizations and others to further advance the use of aluminum in vehicles; and
- launching campaigns to educate employees, communities and civic leaders on the benefits of recycling, the positive influence of aluminum in vehicles and the dangers of global warming. The campaigns will include steps that all stakeholders can take to positively impact these issues.
The full text of Overbey's presentation is available at www.alcoa.com/overbey.
http://www.alcoa.com