Alcoa and Rio Tinto Unveil Revolutionary ELYSIS Technology to Eliminate Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Smelting Process

Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA) recently announced its progress with ELYSIS technology, a breakthrough that eliminates all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the traditional smelting process and produces oxygen as a byproduct. Developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, this technology originated from research at the Alcoa Technical Center (ATC) outside of Pittsburgh.

Rio Tinto plans to launch the first industrial-scale demonstration of the technology at Arvida in Quebec, where 10 ELYSIS smelting pots will operate at 100 kiloamperes (kA), similar to those used at smaller-scale commercial smelters. Alcoa has the right to purchase up to 40 percent of the metal produced from the demonstration, allowing their customers to benefit from the carbon-free electrolytic process early in the technology development cycle.

CEO Bill Oplinger expressed his pride in Alcoa’s continued dedication to creating transformational technologies in the aluminum industry. He highlighted the importance of aluminum in the world’s energy transition and decarbonization efforts, emphasizing that with ELYSIS technology, smelting this vital metal can now be done without direct carbon emissions. The positive news led to a $1.08, or 2.8%, increase in AA shares, opening at $39.90 on Friday.