Low-carbon copper and aluminium products
Oct 19 (Reuters) - A pricing agency for sustainable metals linked to the London Metal Exchange published its first premiums in recent weeks for copper and aluminium.
The agency, Commodity Pricing and Analysis Ltd, has struggled to convince market participants to share sensitive trading information to pinpoint how much extra they will pay for green metals.
Below are some of the low-CO2 products offered by copper and aluminium producers and background information about CO2 emissions. The metric tons of CO2 refer to emissions per ton of metal produced.
BENCHMARKS
The average carbon footprint for refined copper globally is 3.97 metric tons of CO2 per ton of metal, while primary aluminium is responsible for an average of 14.8 tons of CO2, according to the International Copper Association and the International Aluminium Institute.
The CO2 footprint is calculated using the three standard categories of Scope 1 direct emissions and Scope 2 and 3 indirect emissions.
Scope 1 emissions come from the direct production of metal, Scope 2 are from indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, and Scope 3 is from other indirect emissions from the upstream supply chain of mining and downstream products made with the metal.
Producers typically include some Scope 3 upstream emissions in their definitions, but not downstream emissions.
COPPER
* MONTANWERKE BRIXLEGG - Uses recycled raw materials and renewable energy for copper with a CO2 footprint of 0.63 tons. (Scope 1,2,3)
* BOLIDEN BOL.ST - Sourced from its own mines and also using recycled materials, contains 1.5 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
* AURUBIS NAFG.DE - Cathode with 1.3 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
ALUMINIUM
* ALCOA AA.N
ECOLUM - Contains less than 3.5 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2)
ECODURA - Minimum of 50% recycled content.
* NORSK HYDRO NHY.OL
REDUXA - Portfolio of products, mainly produced with renewable energy, with CO2 content below 4, 3.5 or 3 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
CIRCAL - Made with recycled metal, one product with a minimum of 75% scrap and about 1.9 tons of CO2, and the other from 100% recycled metal with less than 0.5 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
* RIO TINTO RIO.L, RIO.AX
RENEWAL - Has 4 tons or less of CO2. (Scope 1,2)
* RUSAL RUAL.MM
ALLOW - Less than 4 tons of CO2, largely by using hydropower in Siberia. (Scope 1,2)
ALLOW INERTA - Produced with inert anode smelting technology, with near-zero CO2 at 0.01 ton. (Scope 1,2)
* EMIRATES GLOBAL ALUMINIUM (EGA)
MINIMAL - Uses electricity from nuclear power with 5 tons of CO2 and MINIMALR including recycled metal at 4 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
CELESTIAL - Produced with solar power with 5 tons of CO2 and CELESTIALR with recycled metal at 4 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
REVIVAL - Recycled metal with 3.5 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2,3)
* CENTURY ALUMINUM CENX.O
NATUR-AL - Produced at its plant in Iceland with less than 4 tons of CO2. (Scope 1,2)
* CHINA HONGQIAO GROUP 1378.HK
HQALoop - Produced with hydropower and renewable energy with less than 1.83 tons of CO2.
HQALight - Made with recycled aluminium.
* ALCOA/RIO TINTO JOINT VENTURE
ELYSIS - Joint venture between the two groups to commercialise a new technology to produce CO2-free aluminium, using a ceramic anode and emitting only oxygen. Last year, Elysis launched a large-scale demonstration plant in Canada.