NEW YORK — Rio Tinto on Tuesday mentioned it could provide BMW with aluminum it produces in Canada utilizing hydroelectric energy, reducing the auto producer’s carbon footprint with respect to its procurement of the automotive steel.

The UK-based mining firm and the German automaker introduced in separate statements that they’d signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Rio Tinto’s hydro-powered operations in Canada to supply a BMW manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with an unspecified quantity of aluminum beginning in 2024.

It’s a transfer that “might generate a discount of as much as 70 per cent in CO2 emissions in comparison with the BMW Group’s benchmark for aluminum,” in line with Rio Tinto.

“The settlement to provide low-carbon aluminium” can also be aimed toward “ramping up our use of aluminium with no direct CO2 emissions from the smelting course of,” wrote Joachim Publish, member of the Board of Administration of BMW AG, which is chargeable for its buying and provider community.