Aluminium is extracted from Bauxite but refining raw to finished product entails huge cost.
production of aluminium has two prohibitive costs. One is high consumption of energy and second, high water footprint. Despite these, governments give concessionaire to mining companies in the form of subsidized electricity and open plundering of raw materials.
My question is are we ready to prosper at the huge social and environmental costs?
Update:
Refining a metric tonnes of alumina requires an average of 250 kilowatt hours
(kwh) of electricity, and smelting a ton of aluminium needs at least 1,300 kwh.
The Wuppertal Institute in Germany estimates that the amount of water
needed to produce one ton of aluminium is no less than 1,378 tonnes (for steel,
a comparable amount is 44 tonnes of water, also a huge quantity). Altogether, a
ton of aluminium produces 4-8 tonnes of toxic red mud as solid waste (from
refineries) and 13.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide (mainly from smelters) while the
overall “ecological rucksack” of “abiotic material” is 85 tonnes.
In simple terms, this means that the negative impact of producing aluminium
is around 85 times its positive value[1]. A recent UK government report
notes that the externality costs of carbon emissions alone stand at 85 dollars
per ton, giving over 1,000 dollars per ton of aluminum.
[1] Padel, Felix, and Samarendra Das (2007). "Agya, What Do You Mean
by Development"? Caterpillar and the Mahua Flower: Tremors in India's Mining
Fields. Ed. Rakesh Kalshian. New Delhi: Panos South Asia.
Replies
I think such practical environmental research will shut down several "development" projects, if not halt or restrict their permissions even more.. You see, when the criminals footprints are visible, you can trace him, punish him, fine him.. if not, you don’t know where to go.. and keep calculating without any real results..
Engnr Mr Dasgupta,
I am unaware of any data from the Indian Aluminium Industry, in fact, i am doubtful about its efforts in releasing the data about different aspects of its production and consumption.
In India, you might be knowing well, the philosophy of industries that they embody to run their business. First they don't release any data and if so, then it is manipulated or, ctrl+c and ctrl+v. This I have personally experienced.
Second, you are right in reiterating that there are many factors that influence the industrial scenes and they should be included to ascertain the "footprint". I request you to share, if u have, data on Indian Aluminium Industry. Whatever data i had given were from certain sources in India and abroad as well.
It would be appreciable on your part if you substantiate this discussion with your data. Thank you.
Dear Madhvendra
The post started by you is really useful and exciting. However, it will be imperative that we use Indian data to bring out conclusions. On the other hand, if the institute has adopted data released by Indian Aluminium Industry, then it is fine to have such an inference drawn.
Indian Industry has to depend on many factors which influence its consumption of resources during mining, refining, product manufacturing, logistics and marketing. These need to be included when we talk of so called "footprint"
Hi Rahul,
You are absolutely true. I missed to put this fact in my discussion. It slipped. Thanks for updating.
The most important thing in processing of aluminium is that it emits the fluoride 1kg/ton of aluminum produced. This affects the human as well environment.
Dear Vinod,
Sustainable account of the aluminium. The last line: "if we did not have to make Aloo Mattar Paneer with a splendid tomato cashew sauce in a questionable aluminum pot." is worthy of making Head^^^Lines..
Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, and is one of the cheapest metals available. Reference: Verstraeten SV, Aimo L, Oteiza PI. Aluminium and lead: molecular mechanisms of brain toxicity. Arch Toxicol. Nov 2008;82(11):789-802. [Medline].
Other studies hint at the decrease of mental acuities in populations that have been subject to aluminium usage over their lifetime. Keeping in sight the point of mining as a key obstruction to the peaceful earthly lifestyles of natives, it might be beneficial to connect a social footprint to this discussion. Will "development" really hold its glittering promise, once all these quotients are taken into a scientific equation? That remains to be seen. My thoughts are that the world will be a much simpler, happier place, if we did not have to make Aloo Mattar Paneer with a splendid tomato cashew sauce in a questionable aluminum pot.. :D
Mr Chatterjee,
If u wish to develop people by sacrificing other peoples' like tribals then that development, according to me, is genocide. Almost all the mineral reserves are found in the best forested regions in the world, u perhaps will support this fact. And inhabited by tribals.
Minerals should be mined, they are precursor in the process of development. "pursuing development blindly" - if this a terribly subjective phrase!, by resonating this what do you mean? U wish to uplift billions of India from penury by just the word development or a development acceptable to masses. I don't think people need a prosperity which is stained with the blood of their own people.
With due respect let me again reiterate that aluminium catel has come into existence virtually. It is now documented also. The role of World Bank, DFID is instrumental in creating such cartel. It will start just sounding rhetoric to u if take pain to find the reality.
Aluminium is a strategic metal and eyelid of first world. It has significant uses and has reduced the steel and iron use proportionately.
I wish to pursue this metal for development plz don't misunderstood me. Undoubtedly, development is inevitable and India is desperate for but it must not be done at the cost of people and nature. Your last line is worthy of endorsing, what u r thinking is what i have been pushing.
It was nice to write back to u. Good luck. Take care.
On the same note, your phrase "open plundering for strategic use" is unfortunately, sounding just a rhetoric ... please let us know if aluminium cartel (actually, though there are big producers, there is hardly a cartel for aluminium) pushes states in US and Europe to buy the metal and make combat aircrafts only as their biggest use of the metal...
The energy budget of aluminium production only would be just a one sided story Madhavendra... you have to measure this against the savings in carbon emission which metal aluminium impacts by replacing a heavy metal like iron in automotive / transport industry
We should not have any doubts about the development goals for mankind..... development is inevitable... I hope we all use our knowledge and skills in making sure that the development process we adopt is sustainable. My solution would not be to banish the use of aluminium yet, unless an appropriate substitute is found / invented... however, I would continue thinking of pursuing governments to consider carbon emissions while pricing aluminium, which would enforce the Alcoas and Alcans of the world to use its R and D budget to make aluminium mining, refining and smelting more environmentally friendly
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