From 2024, the BMW Group will purchase so-called CO2-reduced aluminum from Rio Tinto in Canada. A memorandum of understanding was signed for this purpose, as the automaker reported last Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to BMW, the process used, which bears the name Elysis, saves around 70 percent of CO2 emissions compared to conventional aluminum production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elysis revolutionizes the smelting process required for production, the company emphasizes. By using carbon-free anodes, the process eliminates all process-related CO2 emissions, it adds. It could be successfully tested at industrial level for the first time in 2021, according to BMW. The BMW Group is one of the first series customers of this process, the automotive group writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The planned delivery volume of the aluminum is destined for vehicle production at BMW Group’s Spartanburg plant in the U.S. state of South Carolina. There, it will be used in body parts such as the front hatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to its comparatively low weight and other positive material properties, aluminum has a firm place in the BMW Group’s intelligent mixed construction, the company says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The press release goes on to point out that aluminum accounts for around a quarter of CO2 emissions in the supply chain of a medium-sized all-electric vehicle. This illustrates the enormous potential for CO2 reduction in the aluminum supply chain, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joachim Post, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network, explains: “We have clear targets for reducing CO2 emissions in the supply chain. By using innovative materials, we are reducing the CO2 footprint of our vehicles even before we hand them over to customers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n