Greening Australia's metal industry

Leading scientists are gathering at Swinburne University of Technology this week to discuss ways to improve the sustainability of the metallurgical industry.

The High Temperature Processing Symposium, being held from 8-9 February, is bringing together experts from across the country to discuss the latest developments in steelmaking, aluminium, copper and magnesium.

The symposium will focus on how the industry needs to respond to the challenge of lowering greenhouse gases associated with metal production.

According to Professor Geoffrey Brooks, head of Swinburne's High Temperature Processing Group, few people realise how much energy it takes to process metals.

“There is so much discussion in the community about how to reduce our energy use, but few people would realise how energy intensive metal production is.

“In Victoria, for example, 20% of the state's electricity is taken up with aluminium production.

“Given that Australia is one of the world's largest aluminium producers, it is extremely important to our economy that we make the industry more sustainable.”

According to Brooks, one of the major ideas being discussed at the symposium is the potential use of solar energy to treat minerals and metals. This will be addressed in a presentation from the CSIRO's Dr Robert McNaughton.

Another key part of the event is a panel discussion looking at the potential impact of carbon trading on the Australian metallurgical industry.

Attendees include senior figures from the research and business sectors as well as the CSIRO.

For information about the symposium, contact Professor Geoffrey Brooks on gbrooks@swin.edu.au or 03 9214 5672.