Senior private sector executives and labour leaders were brought together by the White House on Friday, March 4, for a roundtable discussion on industrial innovation, decarbonization, and how America must take the initiative in expanding the world's clean energy economy. Eivind Kallevik, executive vice president, attended from Hydro.
The debate was on how the new Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill initiatives, including tax credits, grants, and loans, may speed up industrial decarbonization and strengthen American competitiveness while generating high-paying employment.
"Hydro has made a significant investment in carbon capture company Verdox, a startup launched here in the United States from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and we recently announced a in the development of our breakthrough aluminium smelting technology, HalZero," said Kallevik.
With a focus on private sector initiatives through the First Movers Coalition and federal procurement programmes under the administration's Buy Clean initiative, the roundtable discussion also covered how supply and demand side signals from the private and public sectors can encourage even more investment in low-carbon products.
"As the largest producer of aluminum billet and extrusions in the United States, Hydro welcomes the Biden administration's climate leadership and the comprehensive policy packages that promise to foster industrial innovation and accelerate the green transition," said Kallevik.
With over 20 production locations for extruded products, 10 aluminium recycling plants, two R&D centres, and other locations, Hydro has operations all throughout the United States. The business is now constructing a new, cutting-edge aluminium recycling factory in Cassopolis, Michigan. It intends to expand into the US markets for green hydrogen and battery components.
“Recycling, particularly of post-consumer scrap, is a terrific way to reduce the carbon content of aluminum products. We need to get more post-consumer scrap back into the recycling loop, and we hope to see innovative technologies deployed, supported through the industrialization incentives found in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to make that happen,” added Kallevik during the meeting at the White House.
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