Sulfur Dioxide
The aluminum industry generates sulfur dioxide emissions through the
burning of fossil fuels at its captive power plants, the generation of
steam at alumina refineries, and the consumption of anodes in smelter pots.
Point Comfort, Texas (Alcoa)
Alcoa’s refinery and smelter complex in Point Comfort, Texas, is a federal
Superfund site. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, “between 1948 and the present, Alcoa has constructed and
operated several types of manufacturing processes at this facility,
including aluminum smelting, carbon paste and briquette manufacturing,
gas processing, chlor-alkali processing, and alumina refining. Past
operations at the facility have resulted in the release of hazardous
substances into the environment, including through the discharge of
mercury-containing wastewater into Lavaca Bay from 1966 to 1970 and
releases of mercury into the bay through a groundwater pathway. In
April 1988, the Texas Department of Health issued a ‘closure order’
prohibiting the taking of finfish and crabs for consumption from a
specified area of Lavaca Bay near the facility due to elevated mercury
concentrations found in these species.” (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, “Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort,
Texas: Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Draft Damage
Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for Ecological
Injuries and Service Losses,” Federal Register, July 14, 2000 (Volume 65,
Number 136), pp. 43739-43740)
IX. Aluminum and global warming
[see old chapter nine]
The aluminum industry is a significant contributor to global climate change
for two reasons: (1) it consumes enormous amounts of energy, much of it
fossil fuels such as coal that release carbon dioxide when burned and (2)
aluminum smelters produce small quantities of extremely potent greenhouse
gases.
An MIT study found that the industry emits the equivalent of over 3 billion
tons of carbon dioxide per year, or about 1 percent of global emissions of
anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This study further predicts a rise
in total emissions to around 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by
the year 2030.
In 1999, The Australia Institute, an environmental group, reported that
shutting down the country’s smelters would be a net economic benefit for
Australia. It claimed that subsidies of A$410 million for inexpensive
energy and A$430 million for “unpaid” greenhouse gas emissions outweigh the
smelters’ economic contributions. (Stephen Johnston, “Aluminium,” Mining
Annual Review, March 2000)
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