Reduction in the energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gasses such as CO2 are key to a sustainable future, and these two aspects are also highly relevant for the primary production of metals such as aluminum. In the western world are Canada and Norway the major aluminum procuring countries, and in both countries the aluminum productions are based on renewable hydroelectric power. Reduced energy consumption and CO2 emission per ton aluminum produced are two major goals for future research and development in this field, and in this context international collaboration is a key to success. This collaboration project aims to strengthen and formalize the collaboration between the two main research environments in Norway and Canada in the field of aluminum production and aims to reinforce the position of the two partners as the major R&D players for the aluminum industry worldwide. The project has established a summer school in the field, which alternate between Canada and Norway. The international profile of the two research communities have been strengthened by exchange of students and faculty. Several research collaborations have been established, which will result in future publications with co-authorship form both partners. Both summer schools and exchanges have unfortunately been postponed as a result of Covid19, but new initiatives are being planned for 2022, including a summer school in Trondheim. For the last part of the project, attention will also be given to other parts of the value chain, to ensure further synergies between relevant research groups.
Primary production of aluminium metal is one of the core onshore industries in Norway. The world leading metal production research community located in Trondheim is of paramount importance to support development and innovation in the Al industry and to supply the industry with well-qualified master and PhD candidates. In the western world, the Norwegian and the Canadian aluminium industries are the most robust and innovative. A strong and world leading research and education environment have been build-up over the last decades at University of Laval in Canada to support the Canadian and the US aluminium industry. This project aims to build a long-term sustainable partnership between the Norwegian aluminium research community at NTNU/SINTEF with the Canadian counterpart at Laval University/REGAL. The partnership will include exchange of master and PhD students as well as faculty and build a framework for collaboration including shared PhD courses, summer schools and workshops particularly dedicated to support graduate educational programs including a Al summer school to secure an international research environment and industrial relevance. In this proposal the projects SFI Metal Production and CaRMa (Carbon and Refractory Materials in Metal Production( are at the core of the partnership. A Norwegian-Canadian partnership is of particular importance since there are hardly other academic institutions in Europe focusing on aluminium reduction technology, and the project aims to build a strong collaboration with the main academic institution in this field in America.
