How much energy is required to produce aluminum?

Producing aluminum requires a significant amount of energy, primarily due to the electrolytic process used to extract it from its ore, bauxite. The Hall-H茅roult process, the most common method, consumes about 15,000 to 16,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per ton of aluminum produced. This high energy demand is largely due to the strong chemical bonds in aluminum oxide, which must be broken to release the aluminum. Energy consumption can vary based on the efficiency of the smelting process, the quality of the bauxite, and the energy source used, with renewable energy potentially reducing the carbon footprint but not necessarily the total energy input.