Apple today announced that it has facilitated the collaborati between two of the world's largest aluminum producers, Alcoa and Rio Tinto, a new process of melting carbless aluminum. Together, the companies formed a joint venture called Elysis, which will work to further develop the patented technology.
Alcoa and Rio Tinto are aiming for larger-scale producti and commercializati of the process, and plan to license technologies starting in 2024. If fully developed and implemented, it will eliminate direct emissis from greenhouse gas more than 130 years ago.
Instead of carb dioxide, the new process releases oxygen, according to the press release of Apple:
Aluminum has been mass produced in the same way since 1886, when Charles Hall invented it. The process involves applying a strg electrical current to the alumina, which removes oxygen. The original experiments of both Halls and the largest foundries today use a carb material that burns during the process, producing greenhouse gases. […]
Alcoa has designed a completely new process that replaces this carb with advanced cductive material, and instead of carb dioxide, it releases oxygen.
Alcoa stated that it was producing aluminum at its plant near Pittsburgh.
