Worldwide, production technologies for magnesium differ depending on geographical situation.
China produces about three quarter of primary magnesium, but the Pidgeon process as used
there in the past was shown to have high CO2eq emissions per kg pure Magnesium. Now,
production processes in China have changed significantly in the last years, and the phase out of
SF6 is well on its way worldwide.
We analyse the present situation based on recent data for the use of producer gas/coke gas and
improvements in process parameters in China and give an outlook on further improvements for
the Mg production technology chains. Changing the energy carriers for heating from coal to gas
can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions up to 45 %. We conclude on the break-even distance
from the comparison of an A-pillar strut mounting made from Mg with a steel component