Aluminum Industry Set to Benefit from $6.5 Billion in Stimulus Package for More Aluminum Transmission Lines.

February Marks 123(rd) Anniversary of Hall-Heroult Process That Makes the Aluminum Transmission Grid Possible

ARLINGTON, Va. -- As the nation's stimulus plan is put into action, the Aluminum Association is proud to announce $6.5 Billion will be spent for more aluminum transmission lines. This will enable new renewable sources of clean, green energy, such as solar and wind to be connected to the transmission grid. In fact, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released a Joint Coordinated System Plan (JCSP) study this month which says investing in the power grid to allow wind to supply 20% of the electricity needs of the Eastern U.S. would save consumers $12 billion a year. Eventually the grid can also help make electric vehicles a reality and reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. Indeed, aluminum's attributes continue to help consumers enjoy a higher sustainable standard of living across the nation and around the world.

Aluminum is often overlooked in electrical applications. In fact, without aluminum the entire U.S. transmission grid would not exist as it does today. Aluminum transmission and distribution lines reliably deliver electricity to every building, home, industry, airport, hospital, and more, 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year. This has enabled electrification, which is considered the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th Century by the National Academy of Engineering. The U.S. transmission grid is a web of several hundred thousand miles of aluminum conductors, and most of the utility distribution grid is also aluminum. In electrical applications, aluminum can do everything that copper can, but more efficiently and economically. Aluminum provides up to twice the conductivity per pound of copper (dependent on the specific alloy and application) at less than half the cost per pound (based upon current prices) for a 400% economic-efficiency advantage over copper.

February marks the 123rd anniversary of the electrolytic process, which made the entire transmission grid possible. This process, developed by 22-year-old Charles Martin Hall in 1886, took aluminum to its commercial status--in everything from aircrafts, to buildings, to food storage.

The Aluminum Association, based in Arlington, Virginia, works globally to aggressively promote aluminum as the most sustainable and recyclable automotive, packaging and construction material in today's market. The Association represents U.S. and foreign-based primary producers of aluminum, aluminum recyclers and producers of fabricated products, as well as industry suppliers. Member companies operate more than 200 plants in the United States, with many conducting business worldwide.

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