Canada may seem an unlikely leader in aluminum production, given that it has no reserves of bauxite, the raw mineral that yields finished aluminum. However, the country’s huge supply of renewable hydroelectric power makes it the world’s fourth-largest producer of aluminum.

A new Canadian-developed process is reimagining aluminum’s role not just as a manufacturing material, but as a clean energy storage medium and fuel.

Instead of using aluminum to make goods like car parts, beer cans and foil wrap, the process uses aluminum as a vessel for storing energy until it is needed. This new process has the potential to significantly cut carbon emissions, open up new markets and increase energy security.

It works by triggering a reaction between aluminum and water that generates heat, hydrogen and aluminum oxide. In this reaction, just one litre of aluminum produces the same amount of heat as burning a litre of diesel fuel, while yielding the equivalent of four litres of liquid hydrogen, another useful fuel.

The process is circular — once the energy has been extracted from the aluminum, the leftover aluminum oxide can be turned back into aluminum using another clean process, which also happens to be Canadian.