We’ve got hydropower, and we’ve got the lowest carbon aluminum smelting technology in the world’
Rio Tinto Plc.’s latest investment in a Quebec aluminum smelter is another example of how Canada’s natural resources will remain an investment magnet in the new, more sustainable economy.
Earlier this month, the metal giant announced a $110-million investment its aluminum smelters in Quebec — believed to be the first investment of any scale in any new North American aluminum production following about a decade of stasis, during which China’s sector rose to dominance.
Rio’s investment remains modest — increasing the company’s aluminum production by less than one per cent — but the global mining giant is touting Quebec’s clean hydroelectric energy, and the low-emission process that it uses to smelt as a primary driver behind the expansion.
“We’ve got hydropower, and we’ve got the lowest carbon aluminum smelting technology in the world,” Ivan Vella, chief executive of aluminum at Rio Tinto, told the Financial Post. “You put those pieces together and we think that’s something we should invest in.”
For the rest of this article: https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/renewables/betting-against-coal-rio-tinto-taps-quebecs-hydro-power-to-produce-green-aluminum