“The Growing Role of Minerals and Metals for a Low Carbon Future.”
There is growing awareness that human activities are having a major impact on the earth’s ecosphere. So much so that many are now defining a new geological era: the Anthropocene. That is a time when humans have become the driving force in the earth’s physical changes.
With the global human population expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, urbanization, access to energy, infrastructure development, and poverty reduction will result in an unprecedented strain on our planet’s natural resources and environment. Of course, this presents a long-term risk for development. Hence, the World Bank continues to champion an integrated approach for sustainable development. This includes low-carbon development strategies, renewable energy, and resilient cities and landscapes.
As part of the transition to a low carbon economy, we are already seeing remarkable growth in renewable energy technologies. In fact, they now account for about 17% of global energy consumption. The need to meet future energy demands, while striving for a low carbon future, is not however immaterial.
An impressive range of analysis covering the science and viability of response measures, including both adaptation to the impacts of climate change and measures to mitigate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, was undertaken when more than 170 countries signed on to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015. Mitigation issues typically covered the economic, policy, technology, and sustainability implications of reducing GHG emissions. However, relatively little analysis covered the material implications of a carbon-constrained future.
This is why it is important to explore and analyze the implications of the rapid uptake of climate-friendly technologies for commodity demand. And, the mineral resources required to manufacture these new technologies.
With the release of “The Growing Role of Minerals for a Low Carbon Future,” the World Bank is making a contribution. It ensures that this topic is given its rightful place in understanding the implications of a carbon-constrained future.
View or download “The Growing Role of Minerals and Metals for a Low Carbon Future” PDF.
According to Navigant Research, renewable sources will meet five to eight percent of energy needs in mining by 2022. Moreover, wind power is the technology that is closest to receiving wide-scale investment from mining companies.
In renewable energy news, solar energy is gaining importance, due to a rapid decline in costs. But, solar resources vary with latitude and other factors. At locations in the southern United States, costs are now below 20 cents per kilowatt-hour. However, solar power at remote projects in Canada’s North is currently likely to cost between 30 and 40 cents per kilowatt-hour, says Royer.
Forcione says he believes solar can and will compete with the wind in Canada. “In Germany, there are 50,000 megawatts of solar already installed,” he points out. “Some places in Canada that are about the same latitudes can certainly use it.”
No matter the source, adds Sediqi: “Today, we can generate 20 percent of the total energy demand of a mine with solar and wind technology without the need for storage.”
But, to what extent will renewables replace diesel in future mining projects? Is a 100 percent penetration rate realistic?
“I think in some year in the future, you will see 100 percent availability for a project like ours, but not in the short term,” says Busby.
It is clear that whatever improvements are made, diesel will always play a big part in autonomous grids. “You can reach 100 percent renewable energy, but you still never want to remove your gensets as a backup,” says Armstrong.
Less clear is whether others will be joining companies like Rio Tinto and Cronimet on the frontier of renewable energy in mining very soon. Lydan says it may take some time for leaders to realize the benefits their organizations could reap; “For some people, it is too good to be true. And, this renewable energy news will change the game going forward.
Renewable energy continues to make inroads in the mining industry. There are now a large number of mining sites using renewable power to provide energy for their operations. And, many more evaluating potential renewable energy alternatives. In fact, this trend has gained momentum in recent years as the mining industry has focused on cutting costs and improving environmental performance. Over this period of early adoption, it has become apparent that due to the large energy needs and critical reliability and power quality requirements of mine operations, a microgrid approach to integrating renewable energy for mines is the most suitable. Renewable microgrids are the future.
However, the adoption of renewable microgrids to power mines is still lagging behind what should be expected. This is especially true for the sites using off-grid diesel power. Or, for the ones with poor grid availability as well as low power quality. There are a number of sites around the world that would significantly benefit from the use of renewable microgrids. Moreover, this number is increasing every year as technology improves and power costs from renewable microgrids continue to fall.
For renewable microgrids to reach their potential in the mining sector requires a clear understanding of the needs of mine owners as well as clear communication of the benefits of renewables.
Generating power locally simplifies the logistics and supply chain for supplying energy to a mine site. Most renewable sources do not require fuel and have relatively light operations and maintenance requirements. This is especially true when compared to diesel generation. In these instances, one must manage the sourcing, transport, storage, and security of the fuel supply.
Renewable energy generates very low emissions and local pollution. Improved environmental sustainability of a site can help obtain permits and permissions. It can also improve the relationships with local communities and stakeholders. Additionally, it can save on costs as carbon and other emissions may have (or will have in the future) direct costs associated with them (such as CO2 emission certificates).
Microgrids can incorporate storage and demand management elements to improve the reliability of the power supply. Being located on-site makes the power generation and storage more resilient to interruptions elsewhere to a grid network or fuel supply chain. Renewable microgrids can also offer resilience to protect critical loads or services in the case of natural disasters.
The costs of renewable generation are generally stable and predictable once a project is constructed. On the other hand, fossil fuel prices are extremely volatile. Fossil fuel price volatility, as demonstrated by the rapid drop in oil prices in the second half of 2014, makes estimating future costs difficult and highly uncertain. Even grid-supplied power can be heavily impacted by fossil-fuel price variability if fossil fuels provide a large proportion of the power mix.
In areas with good renewable resources, renewable microgrids are typically much lower cost than diesel generation and competitive with grid-supplied power. The cost savings from renewable microgrids can exceed 50% in remote locations. This cost advantage will only increase as fuel prices and central power costs continue to increase and can make a tremendous difference in the operational costs of a site.
Renewable microgrids clearly offer significant benefits for mine owners, operators, and the local communities adjacent to sites. It is time for microgrid developers, suppliers, and integrators to work closely with the mining sector to further grow the sector and capture the tremendous value that renewable microgrids can bring to mine owners and operators.
By Arnaud Henin
Rob Lydan, former director, solar and wind, at Hatch, sees the mining industry finally starting to grasp the attractive business case for renewable energy. It is clear that renewable developers are familiar with rapid progress. However, he urges them to understand that mining companies are enormous entities that change course very slowly.
It is important to encourage mining companies to embrace solar and wind energy. Hence, renewables developers need to resist the urge to make overly optimistic arguments or downplay negatives. Instead, demonstrating persistence and sincerity in explaining what their businesses have to offer is the way to go.
Within the past year, the debate over what role renewable energy will play in the mining industry has deepened and matured, says Rob Lydan. One sign of this burgeoning maturity in which executives within mining companies are analyzing renewable options.
A year or two ago, the head of sustainability or an energy procurement manager might have been the one speaking to renewable energy partners. But, today the conversation has moved front and center. And, is conducted by the head of operations or another key decision-maker. “Clients are becoming more cognizant on a corporate operations level of the fact that they have energy cost issues that are affecting their operations,” says Lydan. “There’s a deeper understanding of the challenges out there.”
The number and types of mines evaluating renewable energy have expanded, too. In the early days, the topic was most pressing for companies with underground, non-ferrous sites. That is because their energy consumption was extremely high. “Today we see a broader base of clients interested in the topic,” says Lydan.
Take a look at the PDF for the full interview.
This thought leadership piece provides insights from Rob Lydan and Michael Carreau of Hatch’s renewable energy team. The two offer perspectives for mining companies on the economics of wind and solar energy. They also present the challenges of integrating hybrid power solutions, and the 10-20% potential cost savings from moving towards alternative energy solutions.
If you asked miners to describe renewable power, you’d often hear words like ‘unreliable’, ‘expensive’, and ‘risky’, says Rob Lydan. That was up until quite recently. Lydan acknowledges that for many years, solar, wind, hydro, and other forms of renewable energy were intriguing. But, they seemed too expensive and too cutting-edge for the comfort of the mining industry. However, that’s all begun to change.
Over the past few months, the capital costs for renewables have continued to drop considerably. Consequently, many renewable solutions are now less expensive than diesel. “Wind power in a remote mining installation can reduce your cost of energy by 10-20%,” says Michael Carreau, Hatch’s Director of Renewable Power.
At the same time, the ability to engineer a hybrid renewable solution that is highly reliable has increased. With proper implementation and education, Carreau and Lydan are convinced that a hybrid renewable energy system can work just as reliably as running diesel generators on their own.
Take a look at the PDF for the full interview.
CLIMATE-SMART MINING FACILITY LAUNCHING CONFERENCE
Minerals for Climate Action
Preston Auditorium; Wednesday, 1 May 2019; 09:00 AM – 05:30 PM
A panel discussion took place at the launching conference “Minerals for Climate Action,” hosted and organized by the World Bank’s Energy & Extractives Global Practice in Washington, DC.
The Climate-Smart Mining Facility is the first-ever Facility dedicated to making mining climate-smart and sustainable, bringing together governments, industry, financial institutions as well as private investors.
The event gathered an audience of CEOs, NGOs, government, academia as well as private and public-sector representatives. In addition, a wide range of industries and governments stakeholders were represented, such as automotive, battery manufacturers, financial institutions, government donors, energy companies, the mining industry, and World Bank clients.
In fact, the session was an interactive debate and discussion between leading experts on what climate-smart mining should look like and how a range of actors can make mining as sustainable as possible.
Objectives of the session included:
• Discussing how to leverage innovation in order to reduce the carbon and material footprints of increased extractive and processing activity to supply the clean energy transition
• Exploring the role of innovation to secure supply for strategic minerals as well as create new market opportunities for mineral-rich developing countries.
Innovation may refer to:
o Developing new technology in the mining sector in order to reduce environmental impacts;
o New partnerships between upstream and downstream companies in order to mobilize private capital for development;
• Determining how the public and private sectors can work together to drive innovation throughout the mineral supply
Rob Lydan is the CEO of Phoventus, a global consulting and engineering firm with offices in Toronto and New York. In addition, During his career, Rob spent more than 25 years building and leading diverse engineering teams. Rob is the recipient of multiple awards, patents, and nominations for recognized innovation and engineering design. Also, Rob is a graduate of mechanical engineering technology from George Brown. Rob is a published author of a variety of thought leadership articles.
Read or download the full PDF.
The Climate-Smart Mining Facility will help resource-rich developing countries benefit from the increasing demand for minerals and metals. That is while ensuring the mining sector is managed in a way that minimizes the environmental and climate footprint.
The Facility supports the sustainable extraction and processing of minerals and metals to secure supply for clean energy technologies. It is by minimizing the social, environmental, and climate footprint throughout the value chain of those materials. Scaling up technical assistance and investments in resource-rich developing countries will enable that.
While the growing demand for minerals and metals provides economic opportunities for resource-rich developing countries and private sector entities alike, significant challenges will likely emerge if the climate-driven clean energy transition is not responsible and sustainable.
The Climate-Smart Mining approach has been developed in concert with the broader UN Sustainable Development Goals. The goal was to ensure that the decarbonization of the mining and energy sectors also benefits resource-rich countries. These countries host these strategic minerals and their extraction directly impacts communities.
Climate-Smart Mining builds on the work the World Bank is doing to help ensure resource-rich developing countries benefit from their mineral resources and manage them in a sustainable manner while fostering economic growth and development. Our technical support also helps governments improve the investment climate by strengthening governance and building the capacities of key institutions, policy frameworks, and legislation.
Canadian Power Engineers is the newest member of the family and a wholly-owned division of Phovetus Inc. We are an Engineering firm with a global reputation for excellence in power systems engineering. Above all, we are professional, independent, and focused on delivering value-added results to your renewable power or transportation project. Our mission is to provide technical focus on the core issues. Our value is our insight into the latest technology and approaches needed to deliver our client’s projects on time and within budget. Renewable Power Specialist.