Power supply
alarming 28% if taking into consideration Scope-3 emissions from the combustion of coal – aviation, meanwhile, falls at less than 2%. Mining, however, suffers from a pollution paradox. Despite being an industry with one of the highest carbon credentials, it also plays a pivotal role in the energy transition due to its involvement in sourcing the raw materials required for electric vehicles, lithium batteries and even the infrastructure for renewable energy. It may be an awkward position to navigate, but it is one that also exemplifies the need to overhaul the entire industry. Back in Australia, there’s another pressing reason that should help encourage mine operators to listen to those arguments, and it uses one of the more effective methods – by pulling at their purse strings. Updates passed into motion in 2023 to the Australian government’s Safeguard Mechanism (SGM) require mining facilities to cut their emissions by 4.9% each year, and those that don’t will be obliged to purchase Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), with prices set to rise up to US$75 per tonne of CO2
.
Yet, beyond the public and economic pressure, decarbonisation options within the sector are limited. As Chomley notes, when speaking about alternative renewable pathways, electrification is often the first option that comes to mind. “So, they put in solar panels and they put in wind turbines and they use that electricity to run the mine. But it’s not that simple,” he argues. “Because if the wind doesn’t blow or the sun’s not out, then you have to have battery storage or additional diesel generators.”
Meanwhile, electric haulage trucks remain a far way off, mostly due to the currently limited battery capacity that is unsuitable in larger vehicles. “And if they stop halfway up a hole, then you have a problem. How do you raise that up?” While some mining operators, such as the Fortescue Metals Group, are investing in hydrogen projects, this pathway remains out of sight for the majority of the industry, at least not without extensive capital costs as well as meticulous maintenance requirements. Another important point raised by Chomley is the return on any investment in renewables: “If the mining site only has a life of ten years, you’d have to look at the economics to [see] whether it’s justified to have to invest in a large, renewable energy complex for a mine with a limited life.” With this in mind, this is why biofuels could offer a full – or at the very least part of the – solution.
A perfect blend
When speaking about biofuels, there are two types primarily used by heavy machinery. Typically, biodiesel, made from vegetable oils and animal fats, is used as an alternative fuel to diesel, while bioethanol, made from sugarcane or corn, is mostly used in place of petrol in transportation. As diesel-
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
fueled internal combustion engines are the primary source of power for the majority of the industry – in Australia alone, the industry accounts for 33% of diesel consumption, at around 10 billion litres – this explains why most conversations concerning biofuel use in mining focus upon biodiesel. Even within biodiesel, different feedstocks and levels can create a product that varies with distinct qualities. Refined vegetable oils, particularly soybean oil and canola oil, have been the most common biodiesel feedstock types in the US, with soybean oil accounting for about half of biodiesel feedstock inputs between 2014–2017, over which period it increased in use by about 30%. As the company’s name suggests, Just Biodiesel focuses on biodiesel production for ESG-focused customers, primarily supplying local mines with strict, yet achievable, net-zero targets. As Chomley explains, the company “takes any type of feedstock – and I say any type of organic feedstock because I can take tallow, used cooking oil, vegetable oils”, where “[feedstock] can be of low quality, and the product that comes out of this is a fit for us at a high quality”. Biodiesel is then often blended with petroleum diesel in percentages ranging from 5–20% biodiesel, or B5–B20. In the US, the federal programme dubbed the Renewable Fuel Standard mandates the blending of biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply and has generally encouraged higher biodiesel blends through targets that have increased over time. In addition to a host of other benefits, such as increased lubrication and potentially prolonging the lifetime of certain engine components, this ability to blend with petroleum diesel is itself one of the key advantages to using biodiesel – and is perhaps the one of most interest to the mining sector. In essence, it functions as an almost like-for-like substitute for regular diesel. Using a biodiesel blend does not require purchasing new equipment nor any updates or modifications to existing equipment or facilities,
Along with soybean and canola oils, rapeseed oil is a main source of quality biodiesel fuel.
The percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions that the mining industry is responsible for. McKinsey Sustainability
4–
7% 19
Vitalii Stock/
Shutterstock.com
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