Greenhouse gas emissions and reduction potential of primary aluminum production in China

A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment was conducted in this paper to calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as CO2, CH4, CF4 and C2F6 emissions, based on statistic data of Chinese aluminum industry of the year 2003. The results showed that the GHG emissions for 1 t primary aluminum production was 21.6 t CO2 equivalent which is 70% higher than that of worldwide average level of the year 2000. The main contributors of emission were the alumina refining and aluminum smelting process accounting for 72% and 22% in accumulative emission, respectively. According to the development and application of new process technologies for primary aluminum production and the ‘target of energy-saving and emissions-reducing’ of Chinese government, the reduction potential of the GHG emissions for alumina and aluminum production were estimated. The results indicated that China aluminum industry would achieve the target of reducing about 25% GHG emissions by the end of 2010.