Do you remember this knowledge point in the textbook: the top three elements in the earth's crust are oxygen, silicon, and aluminum, that is, aluminum is the most abundant metal element in the earth's crust.
Electrolytic aluminium technology has greatly increased the yield of aluminum, is lightweight, strong and recyclable, making aluminium a material that is widely used in various areas of production and life, and the first choice for sustainable product development.
▲Image from: Twitter
Aluminum alloys formed by adding other elements to aluminum can also be seen everywhere in our lives, and you may be holding aluminum alloy products in your hands.
Electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets often use aluminum alloys. After the iPhone 5, you can always find aluminum alloys on Apple's products. But Apple wants more than just aluminum, it has to be "green" aluminum.
▲ iPhone 12 aluminum alloy border, picture from: Unsplash
Apple recently announced that it will purchase the world's first commercially pure low-carbon aluminum from Canadian company ELYSIS and plans to use it for the iPhone SE model, and that the aluminum will be produced by ELYSIS at its industrial research and development center in Quebec, Canada, using hydropower.
▲ Image from: Apple
Hundreds of years of industrialization have allowed human civilization to develop rapidly, but also let us slowly taste the "bitter fruit", and now the world is working for environmental protection and sustainability, apple is no exception.
Apple has a goal: to achieve carbon neutrality of the entire supply chain by the end of 2030, and to achieve this goal, it has issued green bonds since 2016 and has now issued a total of $4.7 billion, and "carbon-free aluminum" is one of the results of this project.
▲Image from: Apple
Aluminum smelting methods have been more than 130 years since its birth, although the energy consumption and scale have changed, but the principle has not changed, it needs to apply an electric current to turn alumina into electrolytic aluminum, an important part of this process is the anode, and the anode will release carbon dioxide and methane, sulfur dioxide and other "by-products" under combustion.
ELYSIS has developed a proprietary electrode material that serves as an anode for aluminum refining, whereas traditional carbon anodes are typically replaced every 25 days, while ELYSIS's anodes are expected to last for years without replacement, increasing productivity while eliminating greenhouse gases from the production process.
Since 2018, Apple's cooperation with Alcoa, Rio Tinto, etc., has promoted the progress of this aluminum metal production process. It also allows Apple to have a more "green" iPhone. In fact, in 2019, Apple has used the first commercial grade aluminum materials produced by ELYSIS for the production of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
▲ 16 寸 MacBook Pro
As an important raw material for apple products, aluminum has not only given birth to "carbon-free aluminum" after encountering "carbon reduction". Previously, Apple had made products from recycled aluminum and aluminum smelted using hydropower. For example, all models of the iPad series, including the new iPad Air, and the latest MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini and Apple Watch shells, are 100% recycled aluminum.
▲ Image courtesy of Unsplash
Because of these attempts, Apple's aluminum-related carbon emissions have been reduced by nearly 70% since 2015.
It is worth mentioning that there are many projects related to Apple's green bonds, such as large onshore wind turbines that power the Viborg data center in Denmark and even integrate surplus energy into the Danish grid, and Apple's offices and retail stores in 44 countries and regions have used 100% clean energy. Many partners have also committed to using 100% renewable resources in the production of Apple products.
▲ Viborg data center in Denmark, image from: Apple
Perhaps soon, we will see more and more highly "green" Apple products.