Mapping the Global Flow of Aluminum: From Liquid Aluminum to End-Use Goods
Open accessAbstract
Demand for aluminum in final products has increased 30-fold since 1950 to 45 million tonnes per year, with forecasts predicting this exceptional growth to continue so that demand will reach 2-3 times today's levels by 2050. Aluminum production uses 3.5% of global electricity and causes 1% of global CO2 emissions, while meeting a 50% cut in emissions by 2050 against growing demand would require at least a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions per tonne of aluminum produced--a challenging prospect. In this paper we trace the global flows of aluminum from liquid metal to final products, revealing for the first time a complete map of the aluminum system and providing a basis for future study of the emissions abatement potential of material efficiency. The resulting Sankey diagram also draws attention to two key issues. First, around half of all liquid aluminum (~39 Mt) produced each year never reaches a final product, and a detailed discussion of these high yield losses shows significant opportunities for improvement. Second, aluminum recycling, which avoids the high energy costs and emissions of electrolysis, requires signification "dilution" (~ 8 Mt) and "cascade" (~ 6 Mt) flows of higher aluminum grades to make up for the shortfall in scrap supply and to obtain the desired alloy mix, increasing the energy required for recycling.
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For aluminum, the energy penalty was estimated up to 20%.
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Passenger cars account for about 8% of global steel use and about 18% of global aluminum use.
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From Global Carbon Benefits of Material Substitution in Passenger Cars until 2050 and the Impact on the Steel and Aluminum Industries (2014) · cites this paper as [62]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Cullen, J. M., & Allwood, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Cullen, Jonathan M.
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2013-03-11
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 3057-3064
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2048918519
- Cited by
- 296
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 8.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Cambridge University Engineering Department Publications Database (submittedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G007217/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Extraction and Separation Processes
- Keywords
- aluminum production, aluminum recycling, material efficiency, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, yield loss, Sankey diagrams, emission reduction
- MeSH terms
- Aluminum, Greenhouse Effect, Internationality, Recycling
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