With an investment from the Norwegian government, Hydro plans to expand testing of its HalZero process, which claims to produce primary aluminium with no carbon dioxide emission.
The proprietary process instead emits "only oxygen," the announcement reads.
"This could be the first industrial production of primary aluminium without greenhouse gas emissions in the world," said Eivind Kallevik, executive vice president for Hydro Aluminium Metal. "The plan is ambitious, and there is considerable risk."
As described on the website, during the HalZero process, alumina is chlorinated and becomes aluminium chloride which produces carbon dioxide. Hydro's technology isolates the CO2, which is sent back into the process and reused in the chemical reaction in a closed loop.
The result is an electrolysis process that is entirely greenhouse gas emission-free.
The ability to offer a greener smelting process attracted The Norwegian government, which will provide NK$141 million (US$13M) for the test facility.
"The technology that Hydro is developing here can contribute to significant emission reductions for the aluminium industry both in Norway and other countries," said Kristian Nakstad, chief executive at Enova. "…We believe that HalZero can contribute strongly to reducing emissions from the aluminium industry."
The global aluminium sector contributes roughly 3% to direct industrial CO2 levels worldwide. Additionally, 90% of aluminium production emissions are attributed directly to refining and smelting.
Aside from HalZero, Hydro is also working on carbon capture technologies that may benefit the sector.
In the lithium space, Hydro recently acquired a 12% stake in Lithium de France, a geothermal and lithium-focused firm.
Lithium de France is developing technology to extract heat and lithium from geothermal brines. The French company aims to produce lithium with a "significantly lower CO2 footprint than is currently commercially available."
If successful, Hydro plans to source material for its Hydro Batteries from Lithium de France.
