Rio Tinto Group (ASX:RIO) partnered with Norway's Hydro in a nearly AU$45 million project to develop carbon capture technologies for aluminum smelters, the company said in a Thursday statement.

The collaboration aims to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the aluminum electrolysis process through lab tests and pilot projects over the next five years, the company said.

The joint initiative will focus on researching and testing carbon capture solutions, with the bulk of the work to be carried out at Rio Tinto's European facilities and Hydro's Norwegian sites. It will target emissions from the smelting process, which account for the majority of direct CO2 emissions.

The companies will share the costs of lab experiments and larger-scale pilot projects to evaluate the technologies, Rio Tinto said.

The companies are also pursuing other decarbonization strategies, including Hydro's HalZero and Rio Tinto's involvement in the Elysis venture.