Two topics come up again and again regarding sustainable manufacturing — materials and energy. What something it made of and the energy used to make it contribute hugely to the overall environmental impacts. So the easiest win for many processes is simply to switch from fossil fuel derived energy to something renewable. Yeah but…

At the weekend I met with friends. One of them is a product designer and on the subject of sustainability (while we drank our beers around a fire pit) he shared his frustration of what he sees as overnight, oftentimes short-sighted sustainability strategies in his industry…

Were it not so potentially serious it would be amusing. For years, the European Union has tried to encourage the US to do more on climate policy. Finally with Joe Biden at the helm the Americans have been planning to do just that for some time. But, when the flagship policy — the Inflation Reduction Act — made its way through the legislative process and was approved last August, the EU seemed… a bit surprised? Cue the IRA vs the NZIA — and a number of potential outcomes.

Aluminium production remains a major contributor of global carbon emissions, with far higher emissions per ton than steel (though with lower overall volumes). The biggest contribution comes from the smelting process, converting alumina to aluminium, with over 15MWh of electricity per tonne of aluminium. As ever, where this electricity comes from (i.e., from low-quality coal-burning power plants up to hydroelectric) has the biggest impact on the actual CO2e.