Canada's New Invention Could Replace Copper Forever

*Canada's New Invention Could Replace Copper Forever* In January 2026, copper broke an all-time record: US$14,527 a tonne. Smelters agreed to process copper ore for zero dollars, and the world is running short of the metal behind power grids, electric cars and AI. But in Alma, Quebec, engineers switched on a machine that makes copper's replacement metal and breathes out oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. In this video: Why the world is running out of copper How aluminum is taking copper's job, and why Canada is the world's #1 aluminum exporter ELYSIS: the Quebec smelting invention with no carbon dioxide from the process itself The countdown: 2026, 2027 and 2030 How Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City and Montreal are replacing copper with light inside AI data centres What "forever" really means, and why copper won't disappear completely Why Canada wins both ways No fake information, no borrowed inventions. Every fact in this video is checked. Subscribe to Canada Tomorrow for the Canadian inventions shaping the future. By 2035, which one takes more of copper's job: Canadian aluminum or Canadian light? Tell us in the comments. *Note* Forecasts in this video, from J.P. Morgan, S&P Global, Goldman Sachs, CRU, BHP and the International Energy Agency, are projections, not guarantees. ELYSIS is at the demonstration stage. Its 2027 and 2030 dates are company targets. ELYSIS is headquartered in Montreal and owned by Alcoa and Rio Tinto. The 2030s scenario for Canadian smelters is a possibility, not an announced plan. The Anglo Teck merger was still awaiting final approval when this video was made. POET Technologies' chips are designed in Canada and assembled overseas. The carbon nanotube fibre result mentioned is from researchers in Spain. *Sources* Copper prices and smelter fees: International Energy Agency commentary on record copper prices (2026); London Metal Exchange market data Copper demand and supply: S&P Global, "Copper in the Age of AI" (January 2026); IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025; BHP Insights (2024) Aluminum substitution and price ratio: LME Insight, "Copper's Expensive Alternative" (July 2026), citing J.P. Morgan estimates Goldman Sachs copper outlook (2026) Copper in cars: International Copper Association and IDTechEx study (2017) Canadian aluminum and copper figures: Natural Resources Canada, Aluminum Facts and Copper Facts; Aluminium Association of Canada industry portrait (2025) ELYSIS commercial-size cell: ELYSIS press release (November 13, 2025) Federal ELYSIS funding: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (May 29, 2026) AP60 expansion: Rio Tinto press release (May 29, 2026) Data-centre cable trial: Rio Tinto and Prysmian announcement (March 12, 2026), citing CRU Ranovus: Ottawa Business Journal; Semiconductor Today (August 2025); DigiTimes (March 2024) POET Technologies: company filings; Optics & Photonics News (May 2026) 1,000 Gb/s chip: Université Laval (July 2025), published in Nature Photonics 3.2 Tb/s link: Ciena, HyperLight and McGill University (April 2025) Telus copper-to-fibre: Telus (February 2024) Bell copper decommissioning: Bell Canada Nanotubes: National Research Council Canada Carbon nanotube fibres: IMDEA Materials Institute, published in Science (April 2026) NanoXplore: company announcements (2026) McIlvenna Bay: Natural Resources Canada (September 2026) Anglo Teck: Anglo American and Teck; Reuters (October 2026) Gallium recovery: Rio Tinto (March 2026) #Canada #Copper #CanadaTomorrow