# Can buyers call Samalaju aluminium low carbon because the smelters run on hydropower?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/samalaju-hydro-aluminium-low-carbon-claim

For the product footprint, yes if the smelter shows its electricity really comes from hydropower and gives a cradle to gate figure that includes alumina. For CBAM it changes nothing: electricity is not charged for aluminium, so the certificates depend on anode and perfluorocarbon emissions only.

## What hydropower changes

Smelting electricity is the biggest part of primary aluminium's footprint, so a smelter supplied by hydropower plants can show a much lower cradle to gate figure than one on a coal grid.

## What to ask for

- The power supply contract or plant link that shows where the electricity comes from.
- A cradle to gate figure per tonne that includes the alumina, which is imported and often made with coal or oil.
- Anode and perfluorocarbon emissions, which count under CBAM.

## What not to claim

Do not call the metal zero carbon. Anodes, perfluorocarbons, alumina and casting fuel still emit.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads anode, fuel and electricity invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record per site, so a buyer can see which inputs sit behind each figure. Factors outside India are entered from the official source and labelled.

- [Check an aluminium carbon claim](https://senseible.earth/answers/how-to-check-aluminium-supplier-carbon-claim)
- [Alumina is Scope 3, not a precursor](https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-smelter-alumina-scope-3-not-precursor)
- [ASI carbon threshold](https://senseible.earth/answers/asi-certification-aluminium-carbon-threshold)

Sources: [CBAM Regulation (EU) 2023/956, consolidated](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/956/2025-10-20), [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org)

Last reviewed 2026-10-21.