# Rhenium: Emissions

Why price swings move rhenium's carbon footprint

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/emissions/

Why price swings move rhenium's carbon footprint What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint of the commodity at a global level, split by lifecycle phase: extraction (or farming), refining and processing, movement, usage, and recycling or end of life. Intensities are per unit of product; the global total combines intensity with world output. Also covers other environmental impacts and the main levers to cut emissions. Emission intensity 450 t CO2e per t range about 150-1,500 depending on rhenium and molybdenum prices and on the molybdenum footprint · cradle-to-gate, economic allocation within molybdenite roasting. Derived: about 0.7 kg Re recovered per t of Mo, rhenium worth about 4% of combined value at 2025 prices, and about 8 t CO2e per t of Mo up to roasting. Indicative only Global emissions per year 0.04 Mt CO2e per year 2025 · about 450 t CO2e/t x 81 t primary (derived, indicative)

Per t of rhenium (metal or contained in ammonium perrhenate), cradle-to-gate. Intensity: Derived from USGS MCS 2026 prices and Wei et al. 2020, Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy (molybdenum footprint). Global total: Derived from USGS MCS 2026.

#### Footprint by lifecycle phase

| Phase | Intensity | Share | Main sources of emissions | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Extraction** | allocated share of copper-molybdenum mining and flotation | – | diesel haulage and grinding; mining and beneficiation are 14-81% of molybdenum's footprint | Under economic allocation rhenium's high price pulls in a large share of upstream burden | Wei et al. 2020 (molybdenum) |
| **Refining / processing** | roasting of molybdenite, scrubbing of Re2O7 from roaster gas, ion exchange, ammonium perrhenate crystallisation, hydrogen reduction to metal | – | roaster fuel, reagents, hydrogen | Smelter-residue routes in Poland and Central Asia sit inside copper smelting | Cochilco (2016); USGS MCS 2026 (qualitative) |
| **Movement** | negligible per tonne | – | air and container freight of small lots | Not material | Qualitative |
| **Usage** | no direct emissions | – | turbine blades, reforming catalysts | Enabling: higher turbine inlet temperatures raise jet-engine and gas-turbine efficiency | Qualitative |
| **Recycling / end of life** | significant: EU end-of-life recycling input rate 50%; world recycling 35-40% including catalysts | – | hydrometallurgical recovery from superalloy scrap; closed catalyst loop | Engine revert remelting avoids primary burden almost entirely; secondary output 20-25 t in 2025 | EU CRM 2023; BRGM (2020); USGS MCS 2026 |

#### Other environmental impacts

Shares the SO2 handling of molybdenite roasting; rhenium itself is of low toxicity.

#### Levers to cut emissions

- Expand superalloy scrap and revert recycling (already 20-25 t a year)
- Fit rhenium recovery to more molybdenum roasters, spreading roasting burden over more product
- Low-carbon power and electrified haulage at copper-molybdenum mines
- Lower-rhenium alloy designs, as engine makers did after the 2008 price spike

#### India

India produces no rhenium. Its footprint is embedded in imported reforming catalysts for refineries and superalloys for aero-engine and gas-turbine work, and spent catalysts are usually returned to the supplier's closed loop.
 Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/characteristics/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rhenium/links/index.md)