Posted on 07 Jul 2021
Australia's third-largest iron ore producer Fortescue Metals is on track to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, after reaching its 30 June design goals to use green ammonia, hydrogen and electricity to replace diesel in its fleet and to replace coking coal in the steelmaking process.
Its Fortescue Future Industries subsidiary has been successful in producing high-purity iron of 97pc Fe from Fortescue's iron ores without using coking coal and at low temperatures, but the technology still needs to be tested at scale and proven economically viable. It has also begun trials to use waste from this "green iron" process to produce cement that has a lower-carbon footprint.
The firm has also developed designs and prototypes for using green ammonia, hydrogen and batteries to power its mining, shipping and rail fleet, which it hopes to test on an industrial scale at its mines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This meets the 30 June deadline that it set itself in March.
"Our great progress to date and our ongoing projects underpin Fortescue's plan to become a major renewable energy and industry product exporter. As part of this plan, we are aiming to meet or beat our internal global industry-leading target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030," Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said.
Fortescue is being more ambitious than its two larger Australian iron ore competitors Rio Tinto and BHP, which have set goals to be carbon neutral by 2050, although both have explicitly included scope three indirect emissions while Fortescue has not.
Fortescue has not ruled out using offsets to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, but is working to limit it through the use of technology.
Source:Argus
