By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto on Tuesday said
it would supply BMW with aluminum it produces in Canada using
hydroelectric power, lowering the auto manufacturer's carbon
footprint with respect to its procurement of the automotive
metal.
The UK-based mining company and the German automaker
announced in separate statements that they had signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Rio Tinto's hydro-powered
operations in Canada to provide a BMW production plant in
Spartanburg, South Carolina, with an unspecified amount of
aluminum starting in 2024 -- a move that "could generate a
reduction of up to 70 percent in CO2 emissions compared to the
BMW Group's benchmark for aluminum," according to Rio Tinto.
"The agreement to supply low-carbon aluminium" is also aimed
at "ramping up our use of aluminium with no direct CO2 emissions
from the smelting process," wrote Joachim Post, member of the
Board of Management of BMW AG, which is responsible for its
purchasing and supplier network.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Ernest
Scheyder; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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