GM to reduce platinum use in autocatalysts by 17%
Staff -- Purchasing, 12/12/2002 2:00:00 AM
Improved anti-pollution technology will allow General Motors to continue slashing the amount of costly platinum group metals in vehicles over the next four years, says the head of metals procurement at the world's number one automobile maker. From 1999 to 2001, the company lowered the amount of platinum, palladium and rhodium used in catalytic converters by 45%, according to David Andres, GM purchasing director for commodity traded metals worldwide.
"Plans are in place for further reductions in our platinum group metals use—an additional 17% reduction between now and 2006—and we're certifying to a higher emissions standard effective in 2004," Andres says. Speaking at a seminar hosted by precious metals consultants CPM Group in New York, Andres says new technology has allowed GM to use less metals, which have been subject to extreme price volatility and erratic supplies in recent years. Russia accounts for around two-thirds of the world's palladium production and a fifth of its platinum.
Leading car manufacturers depend on both metals as autocatalysts to extract hydrocarbons and other harmful pollutants from exhausts and have complained bitterly in the past of unexplained disruptions in Russian shipments. The situation deteriorated so badly that GM, which once dubbed palladium "unobtainium," swiftly changed its name to "plentium." Ford Motor Co. took a $1 billion charge last year on its platinum group metals stockpile after prices slumped. The automobile sector has been trying to make catalytic converters more efficient to reduce their dependence on metals and meet increasingly stringent global emissions standards.
Based on estimates of supply, cost and the amount of platinum group metals required for the 38 million automobiles subject to low emission vehicle rules globally, Andres says GM engineers are instructed to estimate future loadings of not more than 1.5 grams of platinum, 3.0 grams of palladium and 0.3 gram of rhodium per vehicle. GM is also working on fuel cells as an alternative to internal combustion engines. Fuel cells now use about two ounces of platinum group metals per unit, Andres says. The company is showcasing its Autonomy fuel cell concept car this year. Andres predicts that fuel cell propulsion would be economically viable by 2010, and by 2020 GM expects fuel cell cars to be affordable with deep market penetration. But he says: "Price chaos in platinum could well set back development of fuel cells by a decade or more."
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