Study Demonstrates Alcoa Aluminum Wheels Reduce Commercial Vehicles' Carbon Footprint

The results of a peer-reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) study on the usage of aluminum wheels from Alcoa in commercial vehicles show that the replacement of conventional steel wheels for trucks with aluminum wheels from Alcoa lead to a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of the vehicles.

Study findings in Europe indicate that 13.3 metric tons of carbon emission can be reduced during the lifetime of the commercial vehicles if 12 of the steel truck wheels were replaced with Alcoa aluminum truck wheels. The study findings in North America show that replacing 18 steel truck wheels with aluminum wheels reduces carbon emissions over the life of the truck by 16.3 metric tons. The aluminum wheels are also found to lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emission from commercial vehicles. The overall reduction in carbon emission by equipping one truck with Alcoa forged aluminum wheels is equivalent to the average yearly carbon footprint of an American home.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a globally accepted method of studying the complete impact of a product on the environment right from sourcing of raw materials to manufacture, distribution, application and finally, disposal or recycling of the product. The LCA carried out for Alcoa forged aluminum covered the process of bauxite mining to the final stage of disposal and recycling of the truck wheel. The study took into consideration, all the available information on current emissions and energy and materials consumption. The information on aluminum wheel manufacture was provided by Alcoa for five of its manufacturing facilities spread across the world.