Aluminium Smelter in Iceland. Approximate location 64.04345, -22.0325.
Aluminium SmelterIcelandCO₂ estimate (modelled)
Straumsvik aluminium plant is an aluminium smelter in Iceland. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment. It is operated by Rio Tinto Ltd. It emits about 432,548 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 101k passenger cars.
Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3673098.
Source data, measured cross-checks and calculated values are kept separate. No confidence percentage is invented.
Same Climate TRACE subsector; closest non-placeholder modelled CO₂e values. Russia and Belarus excluded.
PowerAtlas operating assets, ordered by great-circle distance from published coordinates.
Subsector: aluminum. As aluminium smelter, it requires high process heat (typically 600–900°C) for its core industrial operations — heat that must be supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion, and losses through uninsulated vessels and piping represent wasted fuel. Removable modular insulation can cut those losses by 80–96%, surface-cooling equipment to ≤45°C, with payback often under 2 years. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment.
Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.
This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:
Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.
At its reported 433k t CO₂e/yr (Scope 1), Straumsvik aluminium plant carries €34.4M/yr of carbon at the full EU ETS price (€79/t CO₂). Free allocation phases out to 2034 (Reg. (EU) 2023/956), so today's bill is lower and rising toward this full-price figure. The fastest decarbonization lever is energy efficiency: eliminating heat loss on hot equipment (removable insulation, steam & waste-heat recovery) typically cuts 2–5% of fuel-related CO₂ — here ≈9k t–22k t/yr, worth €687k–€1.7M, with payback up to 2 years.
Carbon price: EU ETS €79/t · EU ETS €79/t, July 2, 2026, refreshed live via Carbon Hub. CO₂: Climate TRACE. Efficiency range: US DOE / ASTM C680 (method). Indicative carbon value, not the cash bill — free allocation applies; not compliance advice. Estimate the saving for this site →
Operated by Rio Tinto Ltd. All facilities by this operator →
Straumsvik aluminium plant sits in a subpolar oceanic climate zone (Köppen Cfc), at 64.0°N in the northern hemisphere.
Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
The local climate sets how fast unprotected steel, protective coatings and the insulation on hot process equipment degrade at this site. It sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1451 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.12× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1378 W/m² of that. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
Coordinates 64.04345, -22.0325. View on OpenStreetMap.
For a aluminium smelter, the main modular-insulation targets are alumina calciner, casthouse furnaces, hot ducting (electrolysis itself is electric). Typical hot-surface ranges used for screening: 150–1,000 °C.
electrolysis is mostly electricity (Scope 2) + anode process; on-site combustion small - insulation mainly relevant to alumina refining/casthouse.
A first-pass insulation screen suggests about 2,000 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 410 t CO₂e/year of avoided emissions. Screening estimate scaled from installed process-heat projects and surface-temperature reduction data.
See Inzonex Modular Insulation → Run the calculator →
Screening calculation from facility class, capacity and open emissions/energy context. Engineering survey required before procurement.
Start with a thermal survey of valves, flanges, doors and bends. Removable modular insulation keeps maintenance access open while lowering exposed-surface temperature and wasted heat.
For energy-efficiency projects around process heat, likely external funding channels include:
Sources: country climate-finance facilities and public development-bank programmes.
Straumsvik aluminium plant is a aluminium smelter in Iceland. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment.
The page uses about 432,548 t CO₂e/year from the open dataset It ranks #4 among facilities in Iceland by estimated CO₂.
Straumsvik aluminium plant is in Iceland at approximately 64.04345, -22.0325.
The operator recorded in the open dataset is Rio Tinto Ltd.
