Mining companies take on global warming

A pamphlet published by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) singles out four major companies for taking action to address growing concerns over global warming.

Many believe that the mining industry contributes to global warming by emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs), which affect climate change. The key to reversing this perception, according to the MAC pamplet Global Climate Change — Taking Action, is energy conservation, an area in which the four companies cited — Cominco, Teck, Syncrude an Falconbridge — are said to excel.

Cominco — In 1996, the company invested $170,000 in a steam-management system at its smelter in Trail, B.C., in an attempt to lower GHG emissions. As a result, the plant, which is powered by fossil fuels, produces 5% less steam every month, for annual savings of almost $100,000.

Also, because the system provides a steady supply of steam, it has contributed to temperature control in the metallurgical process.

Teck — At all of its mines, the company has made significant improvements in transporting materials, process applications, and heating and ventilation. As a result, for the current year, Teck expects to decrease total emissions to 8% below 1990 levels, despite mining 16% more materials than a decade ago.

At its operations in British Columbia and Quebec, Teck relies on hydroelectric power, which produces zero emissions.

Syncrude — Between 1990 and 1997, the company reduced the energy required to produce a barrel of synthetic crude oil by 9%, with a corresponding decrease in GHG emissions of 11%. Over the next 10 years, Syncrude will invest more than $1 billion in energy efficiency. Among Syncrude’s achievements is the installation of waste-heat recovery systems on gas turbine generators.

Falconbridge — Among many energy conservation projects at Falconbridge, one of the biggest is mine ventilation automation. The potential savings of the project is said to be equal to 25 gigawatt hours, which is equivalent to 4.7 kilotonnes in reduced indirect emissions and annual savings of $1.4 million.

According to Warren Holmes, senior vice-president of Canadian mine operations at Falconbridge and the MAC’s energy champion, each company has found a way to be socially responsible while making its operations more efficient. “The potential costs — social, environmental, and economic — of meeting the challenges involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions may be high, but so are the costs of the inaction,” he says. “The solution, as with any business strategy, is to minimize costs and generate the highest benefits.”

In 1992, the world’s nations came together under the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). Under the convention, industrial nations agreed to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. However, many countries failed to implement the changes needed to reach the target, and so another treaty was drafted.

In 1997, industrialized nations negotiated the Kyoto Protocol, the successor to the FCCC. Under the new treaty, Canada, for example, was required to reduce its GHG emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2008-2010. At the time of the treaty, Canada’s emissions were 13% above 1990 levels. At its current growth rate, Canada will have to reduce its emissions by 26% to meet the Kyoto target.

In Canada, mining emissions account for about 1% of GHG emissions; and more than half of that 1% is a result of the refining of iron ore.

Led by MAC, the industry has reduced GHG emissions considerably in order to reach the targets established by Kyoto. In the first seven years of the 1990s, Canadian mining reduced energy consumption by 10%, and reduced emissions by 4% — the equivalent of keeping almost 21,000 cars off the road.

There are economic benefits to being more efficient.

“In mining, there is a direct link between the energy we consume and our competitiveness,” says Holmes. “The industry’s competitiveness hinges on its ability to increase productivity and reduce costs, including energy costs.”