Aluminium Smelter

Aluminum Melting is the process of extracting aluminum from its oxide, Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.

This is an electrolytic process, so an aluminum smelter uses huge amounts of electricity; smelters tend to be located close to large power stations, often hydro-electric ones, in order to reduce the overall carbon footprint. This is an important consideration, because large amount of carbon is also used in this process, resulting in significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Smelters are often located near ports, since many smelters use imported alumina.