The mining giant ignoring the climate wars
Mining giant BHP is sticking to its multibillion-dollar decarbonisation plans despite Opposition Leader Peter Dutton signalling he would scrap Australia’s 2030 climate target and push to replace fossil fuels with nuclear power.
Dutton has spurred Australia’s climate wars ahead of the next federal election due by May next year, saying he would scrap the 2030 emissions target at the risk of undermining the legally binding Paris Agreement on climate change and build seven nuclear reactors around the country to power the energy grid.
Political uncertainty is not slowing BHP, which told an investor briefing on Wednesday it was on track to cut operating emissions by nearly one-third over the decade to 2030.
The globe’s biggest resource company is reducing emissions by buying more renewable energy to power its operations, slowly electrifying its diesel-guzzling mining vehicle fleet, and finding ways to cut fugitive methane emissions from its coal mines.
However, the miner said its greenhouse gas emissions were likely to rise slightly in the 2024 financial year compared with the previous year due to growth in its business.
“As we grow to meet increasing demand for our commodities, the pathway to net zero for our operational emissions will not be a straight line. Our pathway reflects the dynamic nature of the assets we operate and the availability and readiness of decarbonisation solutions,” the company’s vice president for climate, Graham Winkelman, said.
BHP expects to spend about $4 billion by 2030 on measures to reduce its carbon emissions.
The company’s Escondida, Spence and Cerro Colorado copper mines in Chile are now fully powered by renewable energy, and at least half of the energy for its Australian operations will be supplied from similar renewable sources by 2025.
“We do not have specific renewable energy targets, but our aim is to pursue maximum renewable electricity penetration at all grid-connected operated sites, with an aim of 100 per cent purchased renewable electricity by financial year 2030, where available and commercially viable,” said Dan Heal, vice president of operational decarbonisation.
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BHP’s lucrative Pilbara iron ore operations are more difficult to electrify because they are not connected to an existing power grid. To counter that, the company is planning 500 megawatts of wind, solar and battery storage by the end of the decade, underpinned by the Yarnima gas-fired power station, he said.
Heal said the miner’s rapid adoption of renewable energy meant most of its direct emissions now came from the fossil fuels it burns in the house-size trucks and other mining equipment used to haul ore across its global operations.
They chew through 1850 million litres of diesel a year.
“We currently have the first Caterpillar battery electric haul truck en route to our [West Australian] Jimblebar mine, which we are incredibly excited about,” Heal said. “Replacing diesel will require us to develop a whole new operational ecosystem to surround the fleet, and every part of a mine will be touched by this change.”
The company expects to have its first electric mine truck fleet operational by 2028 and start to roll out electric locomotives by 2030.
BHP’s scope 3 emissions – the carbon put into the atmosphere from using its products – are much greater than its direct emissions. Steelmaking accounts for about 85 per cent of BHP’s scope 3 while shipping forms the bulk of the remainder.
Producing the world’s steel spews out about 8 per cent of the globe’s harmful greenhouse gases, a key target of efforts to reduce overheating on the planet.
The company said it was developing electric arc furnace and “direct reduce iron” electric smelting furnace technologies to help produce green steel and will move ahead with deploying ammonia as a fuel for bulk ore ships on its China route.
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