The
COP26 Glasgow Climate Summit has made it clear that the Australian Government will
largely rely on private and listed companies adopting new green technologies to
hit net-zero by 2050.
Nowhere
will this be more apparent than in Australia’s booming resources sector, and in
perhaps no other sector is there so much investment upside. COP26 leaders
flagged eye-watering multi-trillion-dollar investment figures that will become
available in the race to net zero, in addition to the more than one third of
worldwide institutional investment that now requires an ESG component.
Mid-to-large
cap companies that are not on-board, or above-board, with the ‘greening’ of
their operations through technology, will not only damage their reputations but
miss out on an entire new generation of value-creation opportunities.
Green
technology comes in all shapes and sizes, as do the multiple challenges posed
by phasing out fossil fuels. Advancing Australia to net zero will require a mix
of technological advances, infrastructure upgrades and strong governance.
For
the companies participating in Australia’s biggest mining conference, the
International Mining and
Resources Conference (IMARC)
in 2022, early adoption of green technology is essential to creating value.
Net Zero: The next big thing?
With
about 200 nations signing on, the consensus of the Glasgow pact was clear – there
is much for companies to gain by acting now, and everything to lose by sitting
on their hands.
A ‘wall
of new private sector money’ will be available to those companies that embrace
green technology and clean up their operations.
This
multi-trillion-dollar wall of new money does not include the soaring price of
battery metals, and Australia’s position as one of the biggest beneficiaries of
the uptake green-tech.
According
to the Resources and Energy Quarterly September 2021,Australia
is the world’s largest exporter of lithium, the second largest producer of
copper, and produces more than one-quarter of the world’s nickel.
Schneider Electric President of Mining Minerals and
Metals, Rob Moffit
, said that solar and wind generation were being
rapidly adopted, but battery storage technology needs to improve so that uptake
can continue to grow.
“
As you generate more power, you need
to find better and more efficient ways to store that power. In line with that,
there is going to be further investments into battery technologies, particularly
the composition of batteries,”
said Moffit.
“Demand for artificial intelligence (AI)
is also set to rise. As we combine multiple energy sources, it starts to become
a complex system that needs to be managed. AI and machine learning are the best
technologies to do this.”
Kirkland Lake Gold’s
Senior Vice Pres
ident,
John Landmark, echoed the sentiments of Moffit and insisted that truly
renewable, reliable infrastructure was vital to the transition.
“Power utility companies are the biggest hurdle to greening our
industry. Resource companies can only do so much in reducing their footprint,
but clean and affordable energy is the biggest hurdle which lies outside of the
hands of the resources company that needs to be cleaner,”
said
Landmark.
“Having a ‘token’ windmill or solar panel looks great in a photo-op but
doesn’t address the sustainable operation and use of such renewable energy.”
‘Greenwashing’: The elephant in the room
There
is perhaps no greater threat to the ESG-bona fides of a mining and resources
company than ‘greenwashing’.
Greenwashing
is the practice of misleading the media or the general public, or of taking
advantage of a lack of awareness of what constitutes a legitimately ‘green’ or
‘clean’ technology, fuel or practice.
And
it is firmly under the scrutiny of the public eye. Most recently, the High
Court of Australia
refused to hear
Volkswagens’ appeal against its $125 million ‘Dieselgate’ fine – the largest
penalty ever imposed on a company for misleading consumers – for deliberately
deceiving regulators and customers about the environmental performance of its
cars.
Landmark
said that greenwashing was a particularly problematic issue because a company
that damages its own reputation often leads to other companies within an
industry being tarnished with the same brush.
He
said there is also a tendency in industry to satisfy public demand and ESG
agency requirements, rather than focus on legitimate sustainable practices, “
Which
fosters an environment where resource companies feel like they need to address
these tick boxes, leaving companies to dilute their sustainability efforts on
non-material issues or embellish on them,”
said Landmark.
“
By Kirkland Lake Gold sticking
to facts only and not elaborating extensively on our sustainability
achievements, we aim to ensure our credibility is linked to true data.”
Moffit emphasised this notion, saying that it was vital for companies to
avoid the greenwashing trap.
“[It] can be achieved by
having the right
processes in place
—
specifically
using scientifically based, externally audited, transparent and consistent
protocols,”
said Moffit.
“It is vital that all commitments are
certified by science and must cover all emissions scope categories, not only
the ones directly related to the company’s operations.”
Electricity or hydrogen?
EV
and hydrogen-powered vehicles are often seen as competing technologies.
However, mining operations are complicated beasts and due to the size, location
and technique – open pit or underground – of the operation, certain
technologies will be better suited than others.
Landmark
said that having many viable options available was the best way to ensure greater
uptake of new vehicle technologies and therefore a greener economy, but pointed
out that it is, “crucial that both electric and hydrogen vehicles are
powered by a green grid,” Landmark said.
Moffit
said that
the most significant benefit of hydrogen
technology in heavy industry and transportation is hydrogen’s superior energy
density.
“
Electric and hydrogen are complementary vehicle technologies.
Electrification is perfectly suited towards passenger vehicles, but it
currently isn’t the ideal option for heavy-duty vehicles such as haul trucks
due to the energy density of a battery, which is just 1%,”
said Moffit.
“This means that for a 40-tonne truck,
just over four tonnes of lithium-ion battery cells are needed for a range of
800 kilometres. This is not viable.”
John Landmark and Rob Moffit will be
sharing further insights on green technology at the upcoming International Mining and Resources Conference
(IMARC) in Melbourne on January 31 to February 2 2022.
About
The
International
Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC
) is where global mining leaders connect
with technology, finance, and the future. Now in its 8th year, it is
Australia’s largest mining event, bringing together over 8,000 decision makers,
mining leaders, policy makers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts,
innovators, and educators from over 130 countries for three days of learning,
deal-making and unparalleled networking. IMARC is developed in collaboration
with its
founding partners the Victorian State Government of Australia, Austmine, the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and Mines and
Money.
For more information, please
visit
https://imarcglobal.com/
Media Contacts
Samantha Morgan
Head of Marketing
IMARC
samantha.morgan@imarcmelbourne.com
Isaac Stewart
PR Consultant
Cannings Purple
istewart@canningspurple.com.au
+61 423 306 794