“You have to be constantly reinventing yourself and investing in the future.”
Reid Hoffman, Entrepreneur
Like many other industries, aluminum manufacturing has plummeted in the US in recent years. In 2020, we had 23 aluminum smelters operating; today we are down to four. At the same time, demand for aluminum is ticking up. To help address this problem, new clean manufacturing investments are coming, and in unexpected locations.
Here’s the quandary: we need more aluminum, but making it creates a whole lot of – wait for it – carbon emissions. So while it would be great to produce more aluminum at home, it would be better to do it in a way that doesn’t send CO2 emissions through the roof.
A few fun facts about aluminum
- It is the second-most used metal in the US
- Aluminum isn’t just for soda and beer cans
- Demand is growing as we transition to clean energy
- Aluminum is needed for things like solar panels and electric vehicles
- The production process is energy intensive, and creates a lot of pollution and CO2
- Most of our aluminum comes from overseas (primarily from China)
New clean manufacturing investments
The Department of Energy just announced new investments in manufacturing and recycling projects. They will not only help us “onshore” more aluminum production, but will do so in a way that is much cleaner. Projects are in the works in several states including Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, and Indiana. It’s worth noting these aren’t the typical hotspots for clean manufacturing.
One of the investments is the Green Aluminum Smelter project in Kentucky. Century Aluminum will get up to $500 million in funding from a combination of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Here are some benefits of this project:
- The new plant will create 1000 permanent jobs for US steelworkers
- 5,500 construction jobs will be created
- Workers displaced from dirty energy jobs will have training and new opportunities
- The plant will reduce pollution by 75% compared to standard smelters
- This smelter alone will allow us to double the total US aluminum production!
What I like about this story is it’s an example of how we can feed several birds with one scone. It creates jobs, reduces energy use, cuts CO2 emissions and pollution, and brings manufacturing back to the US. As my friend Paul used to say: Bring it!
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.