Does Alcoa have any energy efficiency programs?
Although the refinery is a high energy user, the process is energy efficient when compared to other energy users. For instance, a coal fired power station is 35% efficient, whereas the alumina process is 80% efficient. Alcoa is constantly examining ways to reduce energy costs through energy conservation. For example, a major effort is made to re-use energy during the various processes of production and the refinery uses some of the most efficient energy equipment in the world. In addition, a major effort is also made to ensure there is no loss of energy throughout the production process. These energy efficiency programs were benchmarked and they resulted in the energy efficiency of Alcoa’s Australian alumina refineries improving by 8% during the period 1990 to 2000.
