Alumina Limited participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP5) for the first time in 2006. CDP9 is Alumina Limited's fifth response and contains 2010 statistical data. The following is a summary of key statistics and commentary. To review Alumina Limited's full response please refer to the Carbon Disclosure Website
Alumina Limited is committed to the continuous improvement of our business activities and to ensure the long-term sustainability of our investment in AWAC.
Alcoa, the manager of AWAC, has the primary responsibility for developing and implementing a sustainable business framework for AWAC's worldwide operations. Alcoa's commitment to sustainability is supported by a range of business systems and operational processes which integrate sustainability into all aspects of AWAC's business. Alcoa's Climate Change Policy acknowledges that "Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from human activities affect climate. We recognise the risk of significant climate change is an issue of vital importance requiring action."
Alcoa has separately responded to CDP9 and additional information on Alcoa's responses is available on the Alcoa and the Carbon Disclosure Project websites.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Alcoa's disclosure of emissions is based on full facility numbers irrespective of any joint venture partner interests in the facility. Alumina Limited's CDP9 disclosure of emissions indicates only Alumina's 40 per cent interest in AWAC facilities based on AWAC's ownership of each facility. Therefore Alumina Limited's CDP9 emissions response must be viewed separately from Alcoa's and should not be combined with Alcoa's CDP9 information.
Alumina Limited strongly supports Alcoa's strategy and policies in the management of the AWAC enterprise, in health, safety and environmental performance. This commitment to sustainability also aims to promote and achieve an injury-free environment, employee health and efficient use of energy and natural resources.
The principal sustainability context for Alumina Limited is to provide support to Alcoa in ensuring that AWAC management integrates sound environmental, social and governance processes alongside sustainable financial performance of the AWAC business.
Sustainable development and growth is fundamental to how AWAC is operated, and Alcoa is a leader in corporate sustainable development. Alumina Limited's commitment to sustainable development is formalised in its Sustainability Policy, defining our strategy and action plans for sustainable development and shaping the Company's decision making, behaviours, attitudes and actions.
Alumina Limited also supports the Australian Aluminium Council initiatives and Alcoa's targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Alcoa is working to reduce GHG intensity of the AWAC operations through innovation, partnerships and a sustained focus on improving energy efficiency & productivity.
AWAC have partnered with an electricity utililty in Western Australia and are using the waste heat from a natural gas power generation process to supplement energy needs at the Pinjarra alumina refinery in Western Australia. This partnership reduces AWAC's use of its boilers and will eventually result in the shutdown of some older systems. The second of four of these gas-fired cogeneration power plants was formally commissioned in 2007, setting the scene for improved energy efficiency and substantial savings in GHG emissions. This initiative when completed and coupled with other energy efficiency improvements resulting from an upgrade project at the Pinjarra refinery will reduce the refineries' greenhouse intensity by eight per cent.
Also at the Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia, a carbon sequestration system is operational whereby CO2 emissions that would normally escape to the atmosphere are captured and are used to neutralise bauxite residue from the refining process. The innovative project at the Kwinana alumina refinery is already locking up 70,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.
The total emissions for the Australian refineries in 2010 were approximately 4,860,000 tonnes CO2e, at a carbon emission intensity of 542 kgCO2e/tA. Carbon emission intensity measures the amount of carbon emitted for each tonne of aluminium or alumina produced. Associated West Australian mining operations emissions in 2010 were approximately 157,000 tonnes of CO2e.
Comparing the Australian refinery emissions for 2009 with 2010, there was a decrease of 2.0 per cent in emissions from 4,957,110 to 4,860,056 while over the same period alumina production decreased by only 0.4 per cent.
Greenhouse Intensity for direct emissions at the Australian refineries dropped from 0.48 in 2009 to 0.47 in 2010.
Direct emissions on a total facilities basis from the Portland and Pt Henry smelters in 2010 were 882,021 tonnes of CO2e This equates to a carbon emission intensity of 1.80t CO2e/tAl.
As in previous years most of our emissions in Victoria in 2010 were indirect emissions from the generation of power, either at the Anglesea power station or from power purchased from the Victorian electricity grid. This represented a total for indirect emissions, on a total facilities basis, of 9Mt CO2e, in 2010 compared to 9.4M tonnes CO2e for smelting indirect emissions in 2009.
Alcoa has continually focussed on strategies to improve energy efficiency since the formation of the company. In 1900, the energy to convert alumina to aluminium was 400 per cent of what is used today at Pt Henry and Portland.
Alcoa continues to develop smelting cell control technologies to further reduce PFC emissions from world wide smelting operations
| Alumina Limited* - Total global CO2e emissions | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 emissions (tonnes CO2e) | 3,565,789 | 3,648,792 | 3,606,001 | 3,426,873 | 3,359,565 | 3,646,241 | 3,492,661 |
| Scope 2 emissions (tonnes CO2e) | 3,099,079 | 3,035,317 | 3,054,521 | 3,257,805 | 3,279,695 | 3,067,304 | 2,976,002 |
| Total Global emissions (tonnes CO2e) | 6,664,868 | 6,684,109 | 6,660,522 | 6,684,678 | 6,639,260 | 6,737,932 | 6,468,662 |
| Total alumina production | 5,440,000 | 5,480,000 | 5,720,000 | 5,720,000 | 5,760,000 | 5,400,000 | 6,070,000 |
| Total aluminium production | 385,000 | 377,000 | 377,000 | 387,350 | 388,000 | 374,000 | 354,000 |
Definitions**
CO2e (equivalent) - The quantity of a given GHG multiplied by its global warming potential. This is the standard unit for comparing the degree of harm which can be caused by emissions of different GHGs.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) - GHGs are the six gases listed in the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydroflurocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Scope 1 inventory - A reporting organization's direct GHG emissions. Emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the reporting company.
Scope 2 inventory - A reporting organization's emissions from imports of electricity, heat, or steam. Emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the reporting company, but occur from sources owned or controlled by another company.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Alcoa's disclosure of emissions is based on full facility numbers irrespective of any joint venture partner interests in the facility. Alumina Limited's CDP7 disclosure of emissions indicates only Alumina's 40% interest in AWAC facilities based on AWAC's ownership of each facility. Therefore Alumina Limited's CDP7 emissions response must be viewed separately from Alcoa's and should not be combined with Alcoa's CDP7 information.
| Alumina Limited* - purchased electricity by operation | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchased electricity MWh Aluminium smelting operations | 2,330,534 | 2,336,764 | 2,230,616 | 2,159,549 |
| Alumina refining operations | 526,478 | 528,025 | 335,828 | 363,659 |
| Power generation | 198 | 198 | 200 | 144 |
| Purchased steam** | 1,196,444 | 1,370,142 | ||
| Total Global purchased electricity | 2,857,210 | 2,864,987 | 3,763,088 | 3,893,494 |
* represents Alumina Limited's 40% interest in Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC)
** includes steam generated at Pinjarra refineries co-generation plants factored into numbers from 2009 onwards.
