University of Adelaide has been a awarded $4.5 million grant to develop more sustainable methods of alumina refining.
AAP reports that the university received the support in the latest round of ARENA funding for the project, titled “Integrating Concentrating Solar Thermal Energy into the Bayer Alumina Process”.
“University of Adelaide will lead a project to find out if solar thermal energy can be integrated into Alcoa’s alumina refining process,” Ivor Frischknecht, CEO of Arena, said.
Professor Gus Nathan of the university’s Centre for Energy Technology said that alumina processing contributed to about 40 per cent of the country’s industrial greenhouse emissions.
“[Solar-thermal] would give a significant reduction in emissions, potentially up to 50 per cent,” Professor Nathan told the ABC.