Protecting our basic resources
Reduction of greenhouse gases and protection of the Earth's atmosphere are two of the most important objectives of sustainable development.Nearly 60% of Energy from Hydropower
The large amount of energy needed to produce primary aluminium means the necessary energy has to be made available ecologically and at the same time economically. Primary aluminium smelters are being built today preferentially at locations where there are large deposits of bauxite and/or where there is a reliable energy supply. Bahrain, Dubai und Qatar are examples of this.Primary aluminium smelters in bauxite mining areas obtain their energy mainly from hydropower. Today, hydroelectric power accounts for about 60 per cent of the energy used by primary smelters.
Rehabilitation of Bauxite Mining Areas
If the aim is an ecosystem as near as possible to the original, steps such as the following are taken:
- careful removal of the vegetation
- collection of seeds
- systematic removal of topsoil and overburden
- temporary storage of the top layers.
The bauxite deposits are then mined. There are then a number of final steps that are an integral part of bauxite mining, such as:
- adaptation of the site to the landscape and the spreading of the temporarily stored overburden and top soil over the whole area
- planting the seeds (covering with vegetation).
Less than a fifth of the bauxite mining areas worldwide – some 18 per cent – is in rainforest areas. This is equivalent to an area of 2.4 square kilometres a year. It represents 0.00001% of the total area of the rainforests. Overall some 80 per cent of the bauxite mining areas is rehabilitated systematically and a further 18 per cent is used for silviculture and agriculture.
