What is Green Aluminum?

Definitions from Standards, Initiatives, and Policies Around the World

Authors: Ali Hasanbeigi, Adam Sibal, Cecilia Springer

In addition to technological, material, and process advancements in decarbonizing the global aluminum industry, standards, protocols, initiatives, and government policies have a significant role to play. In recent years, major growth has been seen in the number of standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies focused on decreasing the emissions from aluminum production. However, through the sheer number of these standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies and the variation and complexity in their features (such as assessment boundaries, targets, pathways, requirements, reporting, certifications, and validation procedures), there has not yet been a cohesive report that compiles the information in one place to support industry, government, and academia in achieving the goal to decarbonize the aluminum industry.

In this report, “What is Green Aluminum?”, we aim to address this issue and bring together a summary of the current major standards, protocols, initiatives, and selected government policies focused on reaching the goal of low-carbon aluminum production and decarbonization of the industry. We assessed six different standards, protocols, and guidelines, seven different initiatives, and selected policies from some of the world's largest aluminum-producing and procuring nations.

Based on our analysis, we propose a green aluminum rating system with emissions intensity thresholds (A-G) defined. We also highlight four key areas of focus for green aluminum standards, protocols, and guidelines: alignment with Paris Agreement goals, comprehensive emissions coverage (Scope 1, 2, and 3), harmonized definitions of green aluminum, and increased reliability and transparency of plant- and product-level data.

The report presents a comprehensive cross-comparison matrix that compiles the analyzed standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies’ key information into one table to aid industry, government, non-government organizations, and academia in quickly comparing major standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies that are currently in place or soon-to-be-released at the time of writing this report.

This in-depth review of the global standards, protocols, and initiatives related to the decarbonization of the global aluminum industry also investigates which part of the aluminum market each standard, protocol, or initiative focuses on. Each of these is discussed in detail in the body of this report. There are a significant number of standards, protocols, and initiatives that focus on aluminum producers, but much fewer focus on the demand and finance side. Of these standards, initiatives, and policies, The First Movers Coalition has set the only threshold for low-carbon aluminum at 3 tonnes CO2 per tonne of primary aluminum, although it only targets attaining 10% of annual aluminum procurement under this threshold by 2030 and it is non-binding. Other standards, protocols, and initiatives have not set such thresholds. The RMI Center for Climate Aligned Finance initiative does outline an aluminum sector decarbonization pathway with an emissions intensity of 2 tonnes of CO2 per ton aluminum by 2050, however, the current emissions intensity aligned with that pathway in 2024 is near or above the global average emissions intensity.

The names of analyzed standards, protocols, and initiatives are listed below:

·      World Resources Institute GHG Protocol for Aluminum

·      ISO 19694-4: 2023 Stationary Source Emissions – Aluminum Industry

·      ISO 14067: 2018 Carbon Footprint of Products

·      International Aluminium Institute (IAI) Aluminum Carbon Footprint Methodology

·      RMI Horizon Zero Initiative Aluminum GHG Emissions Reporting Guidance

·      European Aluminium Methodological Guidance

·      IAI GHG Initiative

·      Science-Based Targets Initiative for Aluminum

·      First Movers Coalition Initative: Aluminum

·      RMI Center for Climate Aligned Finance Initiative

·      Aluminium Stewardship Initiative Performance Standard

·      ACT Aluminium Methodology

·      U.S. – EU Arrangements on Global Steel and Aluminum Excess Capacity and Carbon Intensity

There is a need for more demand-side and financial incentives, as many initiatives still focus primarily on aluminum producers rather than encouraging industries and consumers to prioritize low-carbon aluminum in their purchasing decisions.

An additional finding of this study is that there are significantly less low carbon aluminum initiatives and government policies specifically targeting the aluminum sector in comparison to the steel (Hasanbeigi & Sibal, 2023b) and cement/concrete sectors (Hasanbeigi & Sibal, 2023a). An example of this in the U.S., where aluminum is a key part of the Federal Buy Clean Initiative but has not yet had emissions intensity target sets for procurement, while steel and cement/concrete have clearly defined emissions intensity definitions for U.S. public procurement. While the aluminum sector emits less than the steel and cement/concrete sectors, decarbonization of aluminum production is still necessary to achieving global climate targets.

We also find that policies supporting the decarbonization of the aluminum sector are lagging behind those of the steel and cement/concrete sectors. No country assessed in this study has defined a green public procurement emissions intensity threshold specifically for aluminum. Trade agreements like the U.S. – EU Arrangements on Global Steel and Aluminum Excess Capacity and Carbon Intensity have stalled. The U.S. has mentioned policies around green public procurement (GPP) for aluminum but has yet to put policy into action, while Canada has loosely included aluminum procurement under its whole-building emissions reporting methodology.

In general, for aluminum, unlike the steel and cement/concrete sectors, there are very limited definitions of green aluminum across the standard, initiative, and policy landscape. Initiatives such as the Science Based Targets Initiative utilize a relative emissions reduction approach but have not yet developed a detailed aluminum methodology. Some align closer with the Paris Agreement’s below 2°C target, while others do not (see Table 2). There are also apparent differences in the disclosure requirements and verification processes across the board. Table 2 presented later in this report outlines these differences in a cross-comparison matrix.

The Green Primary Aluminum Rating System

Based on this and our previous studies on the aluminum industry, we make a recommendation for a green primary aluminum rating system. The Green Primary Aluminum Rating System developed in this study categorizes primary aluminum production based on energy-related CO₂ intensity, expressed in tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of aluminum. The system provides a clear, standardized way to assess and compare emissions from aluminum production, covering both smelters and alumina processing. Ratings range from A (best, <1 tCO₂/t aluminum) to G (worst, >12 tCO₂/t aluminum). As shown in the below figure, Canada, Norway, and Iceland achieve a B rating (1-2 tCO₂/t aluminum), while India and China, with the highest emissions intensity, receive a G rating (>12 tCO₂/t aluminum), with other major aluminum producing countries rated in between. This rating system can enhance transparency, incentivize low-carbon production, and inform policymakers.  

Upon completing a thorough analysis of the various aluminum industry decarbonization standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies, the following four key focus areas were identified as crucial to meeting Paris Agreement Goals and decarbonizing the aluminum industry.

1.     A standard, protocol, initiative, or policy should be aligned with the Paris Agreement. Deep decarbonization of the aluminum industry is crucial to achieving the Paris Agreement targets.

2.     Standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies should consider Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and provide clear boundary definitions for the calculation of their emissions guidelines. This will allow the industry to move forward consistently in achieving the deep decarbonization targets.

3.     Definitions of green/low carbon aluminum should be harmonized to limit confusion for producers, consumers, and policymakers.

4.     The reliability and availability of product- and plant-level data should be increased, which will be very important to continue to monitor the progress of the industry and help in the identification of areas for improvement to achieve deep decarbonization. It should be noted that aluminum companies and plants and most governments collect and have all the data needed to comply with the requirements of the standards, protocols, initiatives, and policies listed in this report, although such data and information may not be publicly available.

Our study shows that there are several standards and protocols and many initiatives and policies related to the decarbonization of the aluminum industry. These standards, protocols, initiatives, and government policies often serve different purposes and address different segments or aspects of the aluminum value chain. Some target the demand side, while others target the supply side of the aluminum value chain. Some may be targeted toward the finance community, while some are for green public procurement policies. Therefore, it may not be possible to only have one standard for all purposes these initiatives and policies are trying to serve.

In addition, given the different contexts in which the aluminum industry operates in different countries, it is impractical to assume that a single standard would be used in all countries for all purposes around the world. Instead, the global aluminum industry may need a few high-quality standards and protocols that are aligned with each other as much as possible. These few standards and protocols must communicate and coordinate with each other to align their requirement and reduce the burden on the aluminum industry and other stakeholders such as policymakers as much as possible. Also, it is critical to bring developing countries’ perspectives into decarbonization standards and initiatives, given growing aluminum production and consumption in developing countries and the diverse energy mix of global aluminum industries.

In many of the countries assessed in this study, the primary emissions reduction policies are being carried out through initial data collection through the implementation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) requirements, or by providing funding for low carbon aluminum pilot projects. Countries can additionally implement other policies and regulations and/or incentive programs to lower their aluminum production emissions intensities through the adoption of technologies and measures such as material efficiency, fuel switching to low/no-carbon fuels, increased recycled aluminum utilization, and/or furthering deployment of low-carbon electricity production.

To read the full report and see complete results and analysis of this new study, Download the full report from the link above.

Don't forget to Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X to get the latest about our new blog posts, projects, and publications.