DOORS , WINDOWS & FITTINGS
Clayton Hotel - Manchester
FROM ALUMINIUM TO APIARIES
by Wojciech Brożyna - MD of Aluprof UK
Aluminium , since its commercial debut in the 1880s , has shaped our world in so many ways , in fact , if the metal did not exist , much of what we take for granted today , would never have been possible . Aluminium is the third most abundant element in the Earth ’ s crust , and makes up 8 % of it by parts per million . Once dubbed ‘ the wonder metal ’ for its light weight and high strength , its discovery continues to elevate human progress today .
Grupa Kęty 70th Anniversary - tree planting
Aluminium is infinitely recyclable with no loss of characteristics , using just 5 % of the original energy to produce aluminium , recycling is well established . With ‘ clean ’ scrap value almost that of new prime aluminium , it is fair to say that we cannot get hold of enough scrap aluminium to meet the current recycling demand . With an estimated total discovered and undiscovered bauxite resources across the globe to be in the region of 55 billion to 75 billion tons we will not run out of new , prime aluminium anytime soon .
So where is the downside ? Like all metals , aluminium carries high embodied energy , described today as embodied carbon . This has been historically quoted as high as 20 tonnes of carbon for every tonne of aluminium produced when energy from fossil fuels is used to produce new prime aluminium from bauxite . So aluminium smelters have traditionally been located next to renewable energy resources , such as hydro power for decades in order to use cheap renewable energy sources . Now the industry is looking at hydrogen power to further reduce embodied carbon .
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