Reducing Alcoa’s Carbon Footprint in Poços de Caldas

In alignment with Alcoa's strategic long-term goal of reducing its carbon emissions, our Poços de Caldas refinery in Brazil embarked on a series of initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. Among these initiatives was the replacement of aged gas boilers with two electric ones, which would be powered by Brazil's hydroelectric system.

Launched in 2016, the initiative to replace gas boilers with modern electric-powered counterparts was a pivotal step in the refinery’s journey toward sustainability. The transition, completed in 2022, equipped the refinery with the capability to generate up to 85 percent of its required steam through renewable electricity sources. The new boilers also have a 94.4 percent operating efficiency, compared to the gas boilers’ efficiency, which tended to be below 85 percent.

By requiring a lower energy input, the new boilers emit 5.6 times fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than their predecessors. Coupling this equipment upgrade with other energy efficiency measures allowed the refinery to successfully curtail its emissions by 25 percent in 2022 (from a 2015 baseline). By the end of 2023, the refinery achieved another 5 percent reduction in emissions, the lowest in seven years.

Efforts to reduce the carbon footprint associated with our Poços de Caldas refinery are ongoing. The team on site is working to identify additional energy efficiency opportunities to complement other initiatives aimed at achieving positive environmental outcomes.