By Alicia Hartlieb and Martin Hartlieb, Viami International Inc. Structural die castings for car bodies have been around for more than 30 years, and they have been growing in size and complexity. Many cars today already have parts like shock towers, cross members, and/or long side members made from structural aluminum die casting. Sometimes, even […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. The automotive industry landscape is shifting once again. For the past decade, the industry has seen heavy interest in electric vehicles (EVs), with automotive OEMs making significant investments to convert their vehicle lineup to EVs. However, OEMs are now taking a step back and reconsidering their electrification strategy.1 The […]
By Melissa Zirps, Magrathea. The past decade has seen a significant global shift towards sustainability and decarbonization. To meet this era of decarbonization, the industrial sector, responsible for a quarter of all global emissions, has had to reevaluate processes and resource utilization.1 Within this sector, the aluminum industry is a significant contributor, responsible for 3% […]
By Lynn Brown, Long Point Associates, and Shane Tredup, Custom Aluminum Products and the AEC Sustainability Team Over the past 6-12 months, aluminum extruders have reported substantial growth in the number and frequency of requests for environmental data from customers, including the carbon footprint of their products, the extruders GHG Protocol Scope 1, Scope 2 […]
Alcoa formed an agreement with Nexans, a global cable producer, for the supply of primary aluminum produced using ELYSIS™ inert anode technology, which eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process. “In the fight against climate change, solutions that support the world’s energy transition make a real difference,” said Vincent Dessale, chief […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. In the world of product development, many materials are available to pick from, yet companies tend to play to their favorites. In metals, these materials range from exotic to common, from low density to high, and they are processed into different forms. The majority of car components — from […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting, LLC. Vehicle construction has always been a multi-material story. Instrument panels are comprised of plastic, foam, and metal, while seats are made from leather or fabric covering foam on a steel structure. Looking under the hood, the engine block is often made of cast iron with cylinder heads made of […]
Rio Tinto and Ford Motor Company signed a non-binding global memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop more sustainable and secure supply chains for battery and low-carbon materials to be used in Ford vehicles. The multi-materials partnership will support the transition toward a net-zero future by supplying Ford, one of the world’s largest automakers, with […]
The World Economic Forum has launched an aluminum sector for its First Movers Coalition (FMC), a global initiative aimed at harnessing the purchasing power of companies to decarbonize the seven industrial sectors that currently account for 30% of global emissions, including aluminum. “Technology has given us the tools to reduce our emissions and build a […]
