China Aluminum Corporation of China — one of the largest aluminum producers in China — is aiming to achieve peak carbon emissions before 2025 and reduce emissions by 40% by 2035, a move seen as a response to the country's ambitious carbon-reduction goals, according to the company's action plan released June 8.
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Register NowThe company, also known as Chinalco, will actively develop new energy projects like wind power and photovoltaic to adjust its energy consumption structure, the action plan focusing on decarbonization showed.
The group's green energy primary aluminum production accounted for 49.98% of its total output at the end of 2020, a report released by state-run Xinhua News showed.
Chinalco's Shanghai-listed unit Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd., or Chalco, launched industry-first green, or carbon-neutral, financing bonds with a total value of Yuan 400 million ($63 million) on June 1. The capital raised by the carbon neutrality bills will pay for the debt from wind power projects owned by the company's subsidiaries.
China's carbon emission of primary aluminum industry is expected to reach a peak of 460 million mt by 2025, compared to 420 million mt in 2020, Yang Yunbo, the vice secretary general of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said earlier.
The weighted average carbon dioxide emitted through power consumption when producing 1 mt of primary aluminum reached 10.3 mt in 2020. China's total primary aluminum production capacity was 42.5 million mt/year by the end of 2020, and only 12.7 million mt/year of this output contributed to emissions lower than the average.
China's primary aluminum industry is one of the key sectors where appropriate controls can help the country reach peak carbon emissions before 2030.
A report by state-run China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association released in April showed the country's nonferrous metals industry aims to reach peak carbon emissions by 2025 and reduce its carbon emissions by 40% by 2040.
Chalco achieved primary aluminum output of 3.69 million mt in 2020, accounting for about 10% of the nation's total production.