Mining major Rio Tinto expects to put a big dent in scope one carbon emissions at its Kennecott copper operation in Utah, USA, by substituting “renewable” fuel for conventional haul truck diesel next year.
It said the transition to renewable diesel would begin in the first quarter next year.
Shifting 90 haul trucks, other heavy machinery, and concentrator, smelter and refinery consumption to the renewable alternative would carve circa-495,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent a year off Rio Tinto’s slate.
The company previously made the switch at its US Borax operations in California before starting a seven-month trial at Kennecott. Rio Tinto chief decarbonisation officer Jonathon McCarthy said the combined impact of the fuel initiatives would be an 11% reduction in global “fossil” diesel consumption at the group’s operations.
The renewable diesel was made from renewable biogenic materials sourced in the US. It would be supplied through an existing diesel supply chain, as part of a continuing partnership between Kennecott and HF Sinclair.
“The use of drop-in fuel such as renewable diesel will allow Rio Tinto to reduce emissions in the short term, complementing ongoing work towards the commercial readiness of longer-term technical solutions such as battery-electric haul trucks,” the miner said.
