Apple buys carbon-free aluminum, or will use it in some Apple products

Beijing time on December 6, according to foreign media reports, Apple has now purchased the world's first carbon-free aluminum materials from Elysis. The carbon-free aluminum will be shipped from the Pittsburgh plant, but did not specify which Apple products will be used.

As early as May 2018, Apple announced that it had helped to promote the cooperation between Alcoa and Rio Tinto, the world's two largest aluminum producers. Since then, the two companies have jointly formed a joint venture company dedicated to further Developed patented technology, this company is the above-mentioned Apple purchased carbon-free aluminum Elysis company.

It is worth mentioning that Lisa Jackson, Apple's chief environmental officer, said that for more than a century, aluminum has been produced in the same way and is a common material used by many consumers every day. The way of production is about to change.

Because aluminum production has always been carbon-intensive, the process of burning carbon blocks will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which will have a significant impact on the ecological environment and climate change.

It is understood that Alcoa and Rio Tinto's goal is to license and commercialize a carbon-free smelting process from 2024. Apple also stated that if the carbon-free smelting process is fully developed and implemented, it will eliminate direct greenhouse gas emissions from traditional aluminum smelting processes for more than a century.

Since 2009, Alcoa has been producing aluminum at its plant near Pittsburgh, and has adopted new processes to varying degrees. Carbon-free aluminum is the result of years of research and has been described by Apple as the most important aluminum industry in 130 years. Innovation.

At present, although Apple and Elysis have not disclosed the size and cost of the purchase transaction, Elysis said that the process is expected to have lower operating costs than traditional aluminum smelting.