A consortium comprising Fives, Aluminium Dunkerque, Trimet and Rio Tinto has formally begun pilot testing of a new carbon capture system designed specifically for primary aluminium production.

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The initiative, known as C4Capture, entered its trial phase following a partners' meeting on January 14, 2026 at the Aluminium Dunkerque facility. In the upcoming weeks, testing will be conducted at sites in Dunkerque and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The objective is to validate the technical reliability and economic viability of the proposed solution before moving forward with the potential industrial development. 

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With an ambitious target to help Aluminium Dunkerque reduce at least 50 per cent of its carbon dioxide emissions (excluding energy sources) by 2030, the collaboration has already started making sincere efforts.

However, developing a workable solution has required overcoming significant technical hurdles. In fact, the most difficult one is to build an innovative pre-concentration system by leveraging compact “mini-hoods” that help capture CO₂ at levels while aligning with gas industry standards. The consortium has also integrated an amine-based absorption process, adapted to the particular composition of gases released during aluminium electrolysis, the core process used in primary metal production.

The programme has received backing from the French Government under the France 2030 investment plan. It was selected as a winner under the DEMIBaC call for projects, overseen by ADEME, France’s Agency for Ecological Transition.

Industry trends reveal that aluminium is going to be the key materials rightfully for reducing vehicle weight significantly, while improving energy efficiency at scale. Its use in automotive applications is likely to increase significantly by 2050, though the trend has started already in 2014. Yet primary aluminium production currently accounts for around 2 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with an average carbon intensity of 16.1 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of metal produced.

French smelters already perform significantly better, emitting roughly 4 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne, well below the global average, but producers are now seeking to move towards net-zero emissions.

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