CARBON MANAGEMENT
Caterpillar has introduced a trolley assist system for Cat electric drive mining trucks. CREDIT: CATERPILLAR
ARE YOU READY FOR A LOWCARBON WORLD? How a certified energy manager can help miners prepare for a net zero future By Emily Thorn Corthay
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et zero carbon mining is not a question of “if” but “when.” Most of the majors – including Glencore, Vale, BHP and Rio Tinto – have announced pledges to become net zero carbon miners by 2050. The majority of majors have committed at least $1 billion each towards climate change mitigation, mainly through electrification, renewable energy, and energy management investments. Usually at least 80% of a mine’s carbon footprint comes from energy, so energy management is key to any miner’s effort to reduce its carbon footprint. With the federal government recently announcing that the carbon price will rise annually from $40/t CO2e currently to $170/t CO2e in 2030, the business case for net zero carbon mining has become much more attractive. Clearly, advanced energy management, carbon management, and carbon neutrality are a growing trend in mining. We also see this trend in some consumer-focused companies, such as Microsoft, which has announced: “By 2030, Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050, Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.” Many of the best and brightest young workers like the idea
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MINING JOURNAL
of being part of something like that. Investors, bankers, managers of private capital and political leaders like the idea too, or at least can see which way the wind is blowing. They have targets and goals to meet, and increasingly those have to do with limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, there are ways for mining companies to avoid getting left behind in the competition for employees, funding and political support – and even to pull towards the front of the pack in a world that rewards good energy and carbon performance. o rehen i e erifia le ata nee in or n in We can see how this is working out in practice through a recently approved application for multi-millions of dollars in government funding for energy and carbon management at a Canadian base metal mine (anonymous due to confidentiality agreements). There are many such funds, including BC Hydro’s PowerSmart program, Enbridge’s Industrial Custom Solutions & Incentives, the Independent Electricity System Operator in Ontario’s SaveOnEnergy program, and Energir’s energy efficiency programs in Quebec. www.canadianminingjournal.com
