Aluminum:

RMI collaborated with Norsk Hydro and a prominent U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer (the buyer) to pilot aluminum product-level greenhouse gas (GHG) data reporting, following RMI's Aluminum GHG Emissions Reporting Guidance (hereafter Aluminum Guidance).

Overall, pilot partners gained extra transparency on climate performance of tested products. They further identified RMI's Aluminum Guidance and standardized data exchange format as very helpful in use cases such as supplier and customer engagement, product design, sustainable procurement, and decarbonization strategy development. Throughout this process, the pilot tested the emissions calculation and data transfer of two extruded aluminum car parts from different production sites - a front bumper from Norsk Hydro's Hungary site and a rear bumper from its Phoenix site. Leveraging RMI recommended climate metrics, Norsk Hydro demonstrated its decarbonization efforts at the product level. Reliable and comparable product-level emissions data also improved the buyer's understanding of its upstream scope 3 emissions and informed a more specific supplier engagement plan for reduction.

The U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer faces a substantial challenge in accurately understanding its upstream Scope 3 emissions so that it can make informed business decisions for emissions reduction. The lack of comprehensive climate information of products, measured reliably and comparably, was identified as a critical area where RMI's Aluminum Guidance could help. Therefore, the manufacturer invited its climate leading aluminum supplier - Norsk Hydro - to this pilot, aiming to gain additional visibility into Norsk Hydro's product climate performance and decarbonization efforts.

Through a variety of climate metrics beyond product carbon footprint (PCF) as required by RMI's Aluminum Guidance, Norsk Hydro was able to directly demonstrate its commitment to sourcing low-carbon primary ingots, using post-consumer scrap, and enhancing data quality. For example, the benchmarking boundary PCF and the mine-to-smelter emission intensity allowed Norsk Hydro to report in a comparable way for the two products from different sites made with different primary and scrap composition. The primary data share metric incentivized Norsk Hydro to move beyond generic data and source supplier specific data for enhanced accuracy.

Norsk Hydro shared emissions data with the buyer via RMI's Aluminum Guidance data format, an extension of the PACT Data Model. The data for the tested products was shared via the buyer's supplier portal in JSON format. This standardized approach across the buyer's suppliers simplifies the collection of product-level emissions data and lays the groundwork for automation and the incorporation of product-level emissions data into supply chain management systems, such as ERP, sourcing applications, and supplier scorecards. Compared to manually compiling and entering data, this could save time and effort by streamlining and automating the process to aggregate part-level data for complex products like automobiles.

Accurately calculating scrap emissions without scrap traceability in place is a known challenge in the aluminum industry. This exercise shed light on this empirical challenge. In the pilot, it was very difficult to trace the generation and usage of scrap streams that occurred far upstream. Despite these difficulties, Norsk Hydro managed to collect scrap information and calculate emissions using best available data and regional factors. Both Norsk Hydro and the buyer deepened their understandings of this data challenge, calling for further efforts on behavior change and technology advancements to enable scrap traceability.

• Found the pilot helpful as a customer engagement opportunity to communicate and educate customers about the carbon footprint of aluminum products.
• Believes RMI's Aluminum Guidance can drive product design, enabling eco-design choices including post-consumer scrap usage, billet selection, and emissions-conscious production processes.
• Expects the Aluminum Guidance to drive decarbonization strategy development. It facilitates the monitoring, benchmarking, and identification of production process enhancements, encompassing energy utilization, scrap rates, and chemical usage, which in turn drives the development of sustainability strategies focused on emissions reduction.

• Identified RMI's data metrics as very helpful in target setting as it enhances scope 3 emissions reporting and further facilitates the establishment of Scope 3 targets and sector specific decarbonization strategies.
• Plans to incorporate the data metrics in supplier engagement and data collection practices to enhance sustainable procurement. The buyer's new sourcing proposal will include more accurate emissions data in relation to the associated cost, thereby promoting the procurement of low-carbon products.