A couple weeks behind on this story, but the China Daily had an article last month titled Alcoa moves to build a sustainable future in China that I thought was really interesting.

According to the article, Alcoa’s position is :

To build a sustainable city, urban traffic capacity and urban resource supply are decisive factors that cannot be neglected.

The application of environmentally friendly materials in traffic and transportation and urban construction is of great importance, according to Alcoa.

Using a considerable amount of aluminum in automobiles will improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions of greenhouse gas. With China’s large population, transportation such as trains, automobiles and others are frequently used. If aluminum is widely adopted in transportation, the discharge of the greenhouse gases will be greatly reduced, Wieser said.

And they have a few case studies

Alcoa cooperated with the Beijing Public Transportation Co and provided the forged aluminum wheels for 50 electric motorcycles. A new type of environmentally friendly bus jointly introduced by Alcoa and Yutong Bus was road tested in August

and

Alcoa’s construction product Reynolux has been widely used in many newly built facilities including the Terminal 3 of the Capital International Airport and the National Indoor Stadium for its aesthetic appeal and exceptional weather resistance.

No doubt, by making lighter modes of transportation, a savings in petroleum will be found, and that by using Alcoa products vs. a local steel smelter we can be assured that the VOCs released into the atmosphere are fewer.

However, Aluminum is one of the most energy intensive products there is, and the smelting process is a nasty one filled with VOCs.. so when I read something like the below, I have to wonder if they are a “sustainable” company at the core.. or are just regulated that tightly

“Considering that sustainable development is a long-term investment, we will do our best to minimize the impact of operations on the environment. At the same time, we are always ready to share with the industry the achievements that Alcoa has made in the fields of environmental protection and energy conservation because we are convinced that only by making great strides in those areas can we achieve the sound and long-term development of the enterprise itself and the whole industry.”