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AA AIV Document Information:
Title
Aluminum Industry Vision Sustainable Solutions for a Dynamic World
The Aluminum Association Inc.
Publication Date:
Nov 1, 2001
Scope:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Aluminum is one of the most versatile and essential materials for our
dynamic global economy. Its
strength, conductivity, recyclability, and light weight make it
ideally suited to the needs of a
highly mobile and technologically sophisticated world. Above all,
aluminum has emerged as the most
environmentally sustainable material available to our increasingly
resource-conscious planet. It
offers customers a clear advantage through its ability to be
repeatedly recycled without loss of
quality and with only five percent of the original process energy use
and emissions. On a
life-cycle basis, aluminum exceeds the energy and environmental
performance of competing materials
in virtually all applications - and will totally offset the
environmental footprint of its original
manufacture.
As we begin the 21st century, the aluminum industry seeks to expand
applications by focusing on
complete material and engineering solutions that meet specific user
needs. By emphasizing the
functionality of products and their applications, manufacturers will
capitalize on aluminum's
unique attributes, using it by itself or in combination with other
materials to create superior
products. In the process, aluminum companies and their customers will
dramatically change how their
products are designed and used.
This document presents the first update to the aluminum industry
vision, Partnerships for the
Future, published in 1996. The original vision set the framework for
the industry's first
technology roadmap and for the past five years has been instrumental
in advancing aluminum research
and development (R&D). The roadmap, which outlines a comprehensive
aluminum R&D agenda, was
translated into several languages, reinvigorated interest in aluminum
technology development
worldwide, and led to the development of four more focused roadmaps.
These landmark documents have
helped to focus public and private R&D resources on
industry-defined priorities and have
permanently altered the industry and its approach to R&D.
In the mid-1990s, the industry acknowledged that it needed to improve
its fundamental processes to
compete successfully in global markets. While the necessary
improvements would benefit the
industry, many would also help achieve national goals for energy and
the environment. Traditional
technology development processes, including R&D planning and
portfolio management, began
evolving to increase the economic efficiency of technology development
and speed the path to
commercialization. The vision and roadmaps catalyzed the industry's
efforts and helped attract a
wide range of resources from the federal government, national
laboratories, universities,
suppliers, customers, and others. This pooling of technical and
financial resources by diverse
stakeholders has markedly increased the quality, efficiency, and pace
of aluminum technology
development. Federal support, particularly from the U.S. Department of
Energy's Industries of the
Future program, has helped to accelerate the development and
deployment of aluminum technologies
critical to public and strategic national interests.
Five years later, a substantial portion of aluminum R&D involves
some form of collaboration.
Such partnerships today are tackling ambitious projects in advanced
cell design, intelligent sensor
and control systems, secondary melting, forming and casting, advanced
recycling, reuse of wastes,
and other areas of broad benefit to the aluminum industry and the
world. Since 1996, the roadmaps
have directly stimulated well over $100 million worth of cost-shared
R&D projects with over 75
different companies, universities, national laboratories, suppliers,
and other partners.
The aluminum industry today is similar in many ways to the industry
that existed in 1996, but it is
also profoundly different. Enhancements and recent technology advances
in production, processing,
fabrication, and recycling have increased the industry's energy
efficiency, reduced waste and
emissions, and improved productivity. On the emissions front, new
technologies and processes have
helped the industry cut its perfluorocarbon (PFC) emissions by more
than half since 1990.
Technology advances are also enabling aluminum to flourish in many
application areas, displacing
traditional materials in many sectors. The U.S. auto industry, for
example, uses over 50 percent
more aluminum today than it did in 1995. Aluminum is expected to
surpass plastic in the upcoming
model year to become the third-most-used material in light vehicles.
At the beginning of this new century, the aluminum industry faces
unprecedented challenges and
opportunities. Our affluent, diverse, and mobile society demands safe,
durable, environmentally
responsible, and highly sophisticated products. Tremendous
technological advances in processing
have increased expectations of better products and services at lower
prices and have generated a
need for new engineering and scientific expertise in the industry. The
industry's traditional
supply chain is realigning itself to focus on material transformation
issues upstream and on
functionality downstream. The industry will need to work with
customers who are less interested in
purchasing materials and more interested in solving product design
problems. Sophisticated aluminum
processing technologies will require a highly trained and educated
work force. Safe and efficient
transportation and infrastructure networks need expansion or
rebuilding around the globe, and other
lightweight materials are challenging aluminum in some of its
traditional applications. Overall, it
is a time of great economic, political, and strategic uncertainty.
The North American aluminum industry has a clear vision to effectively
address the challenges and
opportunities of the coming decades. By 2020, the aluminum industry
will be universally recognized
as a world leader in providing innovative, material-based solutions
that are environmentally
sustainable and deliver superior value to users. The industry's highly
trained work force will use
aluminum's light weight, strength, recyclability, and conductivity to
provide engineered solutions
for a global society that values energy efficiency and sustainability.
The industry will build on
its already impressive credentials by maintaining the highest
recycling rate of all materials,
providing a net energy benefit to aluminum use over its entire life
cycle, and producing zero net
emissions on the same life-cycle basis.
To accomplish its vision, the industry will achieve specific goals in
six areas, as described in
the box at right. Toward this end, the industry has set forth a
six-point implementation plan:
• Use roadmaps to identify specific needs and attract resources.
• Leverage resources among all stakeholders through broad R&D
partnerships.
• Recognize the continuing importance of ail forms of R&D
efforts conducted by aluminum
companies either individually or with partners.
• Aggressively promote communications and outreach to highlight
aluminum's sustainability and
life-cycle benefits.
• Promote rapid deployment of efficient technologies.
• Strengthen the industry's education and work force by launching
major educational
initiatives to prepare and attract top students and to reach out to an
increasingly diverse work
force.
The purpose of this document is not to predict the future, but to look
ahead and better understand
the forces likely to affect the aluminum industry and its customers in
the decades to come. In
planning for the future, the industry increases its ability to respond
successfully to emerging
challenges and capitalize on new opportunities. By all indications,
the aluminum industry is
ideally situated to provide the material solutions that the world will
need in the 21st century.
This document provides the framework for future growth and encourages
a variety of R&D
approaches for ensuring a healthy and sustainable North American
aluminum industry.
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