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Summary:Aluminum Producers Emit Some of the World's Most Damaging Greenhouse Gases: Difference between revisions
Summary:Aluminum Producers Emit Some of the World's Most Damaging Greenhouse Gases (view source)
Revision as of 18:21, 22 March 2023
, 22 March 2023→Solution
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==Solution== | ==Solution== | ||
The article describes in detail how factories can avoid almost all PFC emissions. | The article describes in detail how factories can avoid almost all PFC emissions. | ||
< | ===Overview=== | ||
How aluminum metal is made: | |||
: Smelting: Aluminum oxide (mined from the earth) is placed in a molten salt bath (which contains fluoride salts) and electricity is applied. This converts the aluminum oxide into pure metallic aluminum. | |||
How PFCs are emitted: | |||
: When the concentration of aluminum oxide gets too low in the mix, the electricity causes the salts to react with the carbon anodes, producing the gases CF<sub>4</sub> and C<sub>2</sub>F<sub>6</sub>. | |||
Which factories emit the most PFCs: | |||
: Any that rely on workers to visually monitor the aluminum oxide levels, manually turn the mixture by poking it with a stick, etc. | |||
Solution: | |||
: Automated systems, controlled by sensors. | |||
The article mentions that the solution could also be profitable (win-win), by improving energy efficiency. | |||
===Unanswered questions=== | |||
There clearly needs to be more talk about the physical costs of such new systems. What would be the environmental impact of creating all this new factory equipment, and how would it compare to the PFC emissions avoided? {{rn}} | |||
I would wager that the new systems would be a net benefit for the environment - but that's purely a guess from intuition. Detailed data is hard to come by, but we should at least try to make a [[estimating environmental impacts based on costs|rough estimate based on simple costs]]. | |||
<!-- TALK: maybe create a new page for this in more detail: [[Suggest:Aluminum production without PFC emissions]] (suggestion target: aluminum production industries) --> | |||