6 minute read
FUTURE OF MINING EMISSIONS
POWERING TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
TRADITIONALLY ONE OF THE LARGEST PRODUCERS OF GREENHOUSE GASES, THE AUSTRALIAN MINING SECTOR IS NOW LEADING THE CHARGE TO KEEP THE NATION ON TARGET FOR NET ZERO EMISSIONS BY 2050.
Last year, the Australian Government pledged to act in a practical, responsible way to deliver net zero emissions by 2050, while preserving Australian jobs and generating new opportunities for industries.
A large part of this saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reductions Angus Taylor release Australia’s Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan.
The technology-driven plan sets out a credible pathway to net zero by 2050, establishing Australia as a leader in low emissions technologies.
In his address to the COP26 Glasgow Climate Summit in Scotland, Taylor outlines the ways in which Australia would reduce its emissions, using a range of new and future technologies which will advance through continued development in these sectors.
“We estimate the six priority areas for investment in the Roadmap – clean hydrogen, energy storage, low carbon materials including green steel and aluminium, carbon capture technology, soil carbon measurement, and now ultra-low cost solar – will deliver around half of the reductions we still need to realise to achieve net zero by 2050,” Taylor says.
John Curtin Distinguished Professor Peter Newman from the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute says the whole private sector is now moving quickly towards net zero emissions.
“That means by 2030 the private sector will have to have made a very substantial move which means they have to start now,” he tells Australian Mining.
“I did the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy working in (former WA Premier) Geoff Gallop’s office for three years from 2001 to 2003 and the leading companies at that stage were the mining companies.
“At that time, Rio Tinto was the leader and they helped me produce a set of case studies on what we called ‘sustainability hope’ and they helped to make that available to the public.”
Newman says the destruction of Juukan Gorge in Western Australia’s Pilbara region has proven a catalyst for an increased focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) from mining companies around Australia.
“That to me was a turning point in history, certainly in Western Australia but in many other parts of the world as well,” he says.
“To see a 60,000-year-old relic demolished was a wake-up call to everybody that this has to be an issue that is taken seriously from here onwards.
“So ESG went from being something you could report on and tick off, to becoming something that is absolutely essential.”
Despite the relatively recent focus on ESG from mining companies, Newman believes there is a wealth of knowledgeable people already working in the industry with ideas on how to achieve sustainable goals.
“So many of the younger engineers have been ready and waiting for this opportunity, so when they get asked how they are going to achieve these goals they already have the plans ready and are able to show that it will actually be cost effective,” he says.
Newman believes that while there is great potential in hydrogen fuel cell technology, it will not be costeffective and the industry will be better off focussing on the benefits of battery technology.
“All of the land transport is going to be battery-electric, so every train, truck and piece of mining equipment will be able to switch to batteryelectric or running directly off the main power supply,” he says.
“Batteries are getting lighter and they now have a more extensive range. The battery chemistries are constantly being upgraded which is giving them more power.
MINING IS LEADING THE WAY IN SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES.
“There are also so many different types of batteries for different purposes, including what is happening with lithium batteries, and these appear to be moving on a curve that is getting more and more efficient.”
However, it is not just the major miners that are contributing to Australia’s target of net zero emissions.
The nation’s Mining, Engineering, Technology and Services (METS) sector is also playing a significant role in the industry’s low-carbon ambitions.
METS Ignited is part of the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
The organisation works with Australian suppliers to the mining industry, global miners, research organisations and capital providers to improve the global competitiveness and productivity of the sector.
METS Ignited chief executive officer Adrian Beer says the recent focus on ESG is similar to another important mining trend from last century.
“I would liken the recent uptake of ESG in the industry to the focus on safety in the 1990s,” he says.
“The competing mining companies would unashamedly collaborate around safety because protection of workers was, and still is, a common interest.
“That collaborative nature and spirit is now in place in regards to everything ESG.
“Then we also have this collaborative competition around the way in which Australia goes about processing minerals relative to other parts of the world that may not do it in a way that is as environmentally, socially or ethically responsible.”
Beer says now that the entire sector is willing to collaborate on ESG through advancing technology and research development, providing solutions to net zero emissions is becoming more readily available.
“Here at METS Ignited, we are finding that there so much investment in social license and sustainability - or in mineral deposits that are going to sustain this new technology – that we are finding it difficult to keep up with the advances, which is a great problem to have,” he says.
“All these big miners are looking for the technology that they know exists, but they can’t find the companies that have it in their hands.
“So, the investors are cashed up and looking for places to invest, so it is just a matter of connecting them with the right solution.”
One example of this collaboration is the Electric Mine Consortium (EMC), a group of more than a dozen mining and service companies that have joined forces with the ambition to accelerate progress towards fully electrified mining operations.
Beer says the EMC is a great example of collaboration that is mutually beneficial but can also influence zero emission goals for other industries.
“Mining is definitely leading the way and I think the recent advances we have made in the METS sector is helping to push that goal and leading by example,” he says.
“Battery technology is not just limited to mining, it has applications that can be used in a number of industries including agriculture, defence and it even has potential in the space sector.
“When a different industry demands a similar product but with a slightly different variation, they also start innovating much faster.”
Beer believes while Australia’s target for a 26-28 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 will be difficult to attain, the nation’s 2050 plan is certainly achievable.
“I don’t think net zero for 2050 is far-fetched at all, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it is a walk in the park,” he says.
“Collectively, the combination of all these factors - the research, the technology, the public pressure, the demand for sustainability, the use of batteries – these are all contributing to changes in the way that the industry operates.
“Optimising current mining processes won’t get us to net zero, so we will ultimately have to start doing things differently, because if we wait until there is one solution available, we won’t achieve this goal.” AM
1988
METS IGNITED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ADRIAN BEER.
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