The Mining Journal Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2023 casts a highlight on diverging tendencies within the decarbonisation of mining. Whereas battery and electrical applied sciences are dominating the business’s efforts to part out fossil fuels, a small however decided group of insiders consider hydrogen is the best way to go.

Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, former chief government and present non-executive chairman of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), created a media splash in 2021 when he introduced plans to generate hydrogen from renewable power (so-called ‘inexperienced hydrogen’) and use it to energy his iron ore empire in Western Australia’s Pilbara area.

The Future Fleets Report (FFR) options insights from representatives of Hitachi and Caterpillar, who additionally define their corporations’ dedication to hydrogen know-how. Caterpillar, particularly, identified that its fashionable engines may run on a 5-10% hydrogen mix, with a whole lot of 1000’s of working hours on some machines utilizing as much as 60% hydrogen.

However others, akin to Professor Peter Newman, who research sustainability at Curtin College, informed the ABC in 2021 that electrical autos have ‘received’ the battle for transport, and a Hitachi spokesperson informed Mining Journal that creating hydrogen know-how was a decrease precedence for the corporate than battery and trolley-assist methods.

The FFR exhibits that not more than 7% of future-looking trucking capability within the mining world is run on hydrogen, with extra operations taking a look at hybrids. So, is it actually price pushing ahead with inexperienced hydrogen know-how within the mining business? 

Additional energy

Hydrogen holds a bonus over batteries for sheer energy output in cell tools – there’s minimal probability of batteries powering massive haul vehicles within the close to future, for instance.

However the greatest issue inhibiting the uptake of hydrogen will not be the facility era know-how – like battery know-how, there are nearly infinite fuel-cell designs in all phases of improvement, every an enchancment on the final. As a substitute, the issue is the hydrogen itself.

By far the best problem is the storage and transportation of hydrogen gasoline. Due to hydrogen’s exceptionally low density, compressing it as a lot as potential is crucial to transporting and storing it utilizing lifelike infrastructure. It might be ideally suited to do that in its liquid state, however that requires a temperature of -253C, so as an alternative it’s compressed to round 80,000kPa – evaluate this to simply 25kPa for LNG.

On prime of the resultant threat of explosion, everybody who has seen {a photograph} of the Hindenburg is aware of that this isn’t hydrogen’s biggest hazard. It is going to ignite in air at concentrations of wherever from 4% to 75% (in contrast with 5-15% for LNG) and may even accomplish that with out a supply of ignition. Leaks can due to this fact be catastrophic.

Crucially, these are unchangeable details in regards to the nature of hydrogen. It is vitally unlikely that miraculous technological advances will resolve these issues any time quickly.

None of this could rule out using hydrogen in mining. Trade and scientists know completely nicely how one can deal with it safely, and certainly tonnes of it are used yearly for functions akin to ammonia manufacturing. These logistical challenges, nonetheless, would definitely trigger most miners to suppose twice earlier than signing up for an entire new fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Mining’s benefit

If the business actually desires to push hydrogen ahead, mining has a number of benefits that imply it may very well be the very sector to offer the real-world problem-solving and testing the know-how must progress. And never simply any hydrogen: zero-emissions inexperienced hydrogen.

Many massive mines, particularly open pit bulk mining operations, lie in distant areas with renewable power accessible on faucet – consider solar energy within the Pilbara, for instance. Utilizing these assets to generate hydrogen on-site, or shut by, would just about eradicate the transport and storage issues which are the most important stumbling block for fuel-cell adoption in the intervening time. Moreover, the massive autos concerned in mining would mitigate the impediment of on-board gasoline cupboard space that smaller autos face.

Naturally, the development of something past a prototype-sized inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing facility can be a colossal funding, even for the largest mining firm. The primary steps must be taken by corporations with immense, power-hungry operations grouped in shut proximity to one another.

Once more, the Pilbara area, the place Rio Tinto, BHP and FMG run collections of huge iron ore mines, is a wonderful candidate for such an experiment. On this respect, it’s unlucky that FMG’s renewable power arm, Fortescue Future Industries, has chosen areas for its deliberate hydrogen tasks which are too removed from the Pilbara to nullify transport and storage issues.

To considerably offset the prices concerned in transitioning to hydrogen energy, it might be potential to retrofit present equipment as an alternative of investing in a wholly new fleet. The FFR highlights the work of a staff on the College of New South Wales that managed to retrofit a diesel engine to run on 90% hydrogen and simply 10% diesel, lowering its emissions by almost 86%. It is a small saving in comparison with the price of hydrogen infrastructure, however every little thing helps.

The very fact is that regardless of which path the mining business takes in the direction of decarbonisation, there are going to be substantial up-front prices. These ought to be mitigated over the long term by financial savings on every little thing from gasoline to air flow methods, however it would all the time be tough to persuade traders to pony up such massive chunks of money unexpectedly.

As with different new applied sciences that enhance security and environmental impacts, it would inevitably be the biggest miners that blaze the path. The mines profiled within the FFR for his or her future-facing fleets are, by and huge, owned and operated by a few of the greatest gamers within the recreation. Because the know-how will get higher and cheaper from classes discovered throughout these pioneering investments, ever-smaller operations can start to reap the advantages.

If inexperienced hydrogen is to make an actual distinction, it should be by this trickle-down impact. The query is whether or not the benefits it provides are sufficient to encourage the funding wanted to beat its vital drawbacks. Twiggy Forrest definitely thinks they’re, and it is potential he is appropriate, however perusing the FFR 2023 exhibits exactly how far forward batteries and electrification are within the race to zero emissions.