Ryan Alimento

A Crossroads for Aluminum and Electrified Heavy Industry

Read the full whitepaper and our specific policy recommendations here: thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

The path forward:
>> Secure supply chains for aluminum precursors
>> Develop mechanisms to aid electricity-intensive industry
>> Settle large load interconnection, permitting, and transmission hurdles
>> Support domestic recycling capabilities and workforce development

Such benefits are only marginal, including any improvements from AI or industrial automation

This holds even in China, where many claim low-cost manufacturing stems from fully automated "dark factories." Chinese smelters are likely *more* labor intensive than Western smelters

There is some potential to lower prices with new technologies. Higher amperage cells are more energy efficient, and computer simulations and digital process controls can dynamically keep operations closer to the optimum

But capturing this process knowledge won't be easy. Electricity alone makes up 30% of aluminum production costs

And no amount of market magic will make U.S. smelters competitive with aluminum made from cheap Canadian hydropower or subsidized Chinese coal power

Industrial electrolysis used in aluminum smelters parallels existing and emerging processing techniques

Experience with aluminum smelting translates naturally into refining rare earths, magnesium, and copper. In the future, this could include gallium and green steel, too

Aluminum is everywhere: in transmission lines, car chassis, phone casings, solar frames, and (of course) in cans

Light weight + high strength = a staple material in modern engineering

But aluminum's end uses are just part of its strategic value...

A Crossroads for Aluminum and Electrified Heavy Industry

Aluminum smelting could hold the secrets to industrial decarbonization and advanced manufacturing. But to rebuild its aluminum sector, the U.S. needs to learn how and why China seized control.

Learn more in a new whitepaper from colleagues and myself

thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

China just lifted export bans on Ga, Sb, and Ge to the US
GaSbGe sounds kinda like Gatsby
F Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby was obsessed with a green light
The green light represented wealth & the American dream
Green also = environmental

Ga Sb Ge = the American dream = clean energy

Georgia PSC incumbents take majority of campaign money from regulated utility interests Georgia Public Service Commission incumbents Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols have each received most of their campaign funding, since January 2024, from individuals and companies associated with the monop...

Great summary of candidate info from EPI:

energyandpolicy.org/georgia-psc-...

3 of the 5 PSC commissioners have stayed in power since 2022 after the 2022 election was cancelled

GA's PSC has voted to raise rates 6 times since the cancelled election

Monthly electric bills for residents served by Georgia Power are $43 more than they were 2 years ago

Georgia PSC elections show voters ARE responding to high electric bills

Dems Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard beat incumbent Republicans Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson

Utilities funded 87% of F. Johnson's & 61% Echols' campaigns

They spent 12x as much as A. Johnson and Hubbard

Rare earths actually enable lasers of all kinds used in:
- LiDAR
- Self-driving cars
- LASIK
- Breaking up kidney stones
- Photolithography & chip-making

Few know that we owe our global Internet infrastructure to Erbium (Er), a rare earth element

But it's not NdPr used in permanent magnets so nobody cares!

Dems forget that hydrogen and CO2 pipelines will stay pipe dreams without permitting reform

FTC oversees cell tower siting
STB oversees railroad construction
FERC oversees pipeline siting

Transmission lines enable interstate commerce just as much…law needs to treat them like it!

As a 23 y/o who will be having my mid-life crisis in 2050, I feel uniquely justified in saying: “screw the 2050 deadline”

I’d prefer an apolitical climate transition that reaches net-zero by 2100 but is based on technological merit alone over what we’re doing now

Energy Department Seeks Proposals for AI Data Centers, Energy Projects at Idaho National Laboratory Solicitation to scale-up reliable power technologies and cement U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence

DOE is officially moving forward with plans to site and build private data centers at Idaho National Lab

DOE also identified Oak Ridge, Savannah River, and the deactivated Paducah uranium enrichment plant as DOE-owned lands that can house data centers

www.energy.gov/ne/articles/...

Hitachi announces historic $1 billion USD manufacturing investment to power America’s energy future through production of critical grid infrastructure Trump administration-backed investment answers surging demand for transformers and high-voltage equipment needed to support AI data center expansion --...

$500 million from Hitachi for a new large power transformer manufacturing facility in VA 🥰🥰

www.globenewswire.com/news-release...

Many picture carbon capture as just a filter or sieve that you just put in a smokestack.

It’s actually more like building a chemical plant next door

Note that carbon capture uses so much energy that it needs its own source of electricity (the cogeneration plant)

I'm very interested in hearing more about the rationale behind designating REE investments as uneconomical...

An interesting note: "A former U.S. official said the Biden administration considered using CHIPS Act grants for rare earths but decided it was uneconomical, required many environmental exemptions and was best left for the Department of Energy to handle."

Exclusive: Trump weighs using $2 billion in CHIPS Act funding for critical minerals, sources say The Trump administration is considering a plan to reallocate at least $2 billion from the CHIPS Act to fund critical minerals projects and boost Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's influence over the strategic sector, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"The Trump administration is considering a plan to reallocate at least $2 billion from the CHIPS Act to fund critical minerals projects and boost Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's influence over the strategic sector"

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

They mention earlier "Other countries, most notably China, offer massive industrial subsidies, overproduce exports, and disregard labor rules and environmental concerns."

These factors (among many others) underpin the Chinese manufacturing behemoth. Not autonomous robot arms & Boston robotics dogs

The World Economy Was Already Broken But there is a better way to fix it.

Great article. Hurts to see it spread the false narrative:
"Much of China’s formidable manufacturing advantage stems from robotics, automation, and the early adoption of AI. To compete with China, American factories will also need to be highly automated"

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Jellyfish Shut Four French Nuclear Reactors as Heat Wave Builds Electricite de France SA was forced to shut four atomic reactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged up filter drums at its Gravelines power plant.

Swarm of jellyfish clog the coolant intake filters for 4/6 reactors at France's Gravelines nuclear power plant 🪼🪼🪼

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Pic of a pressure vessel getting forged, likely for a nuclear reactor

So yeah, that's how rare earth magnets get made. It's niche, advanced metallurgy that needs well-trained technicians to operate equipment

Also materials/mechanical/chemical engineers to do rigorous quality tests and certify the product as industrial grade