The green shoots from mining’s deep pits

When leaders from around the world gathered at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last week, much of the focus was on sustainability, resilience and the future of the planet.
At the business forum, titled ‘The Global Economy: What’s Next,’ the top spot went to a surprising speaker: CEO of Australian mining and energy company Fortescue, Dino Otranto.
The company, which is valued at over $66 billion, has focused its efforts on cleaning up its carbon footprint, and the image of the mining industry.
Today’s episode of The Detail looks at how, and if, a mining company can go clean and green.
‘We’re part of the steel value chain, so iron ore is burned traditionally with coal to make steel,” says Otranto.
“Ninety percent of our product out of Australia goes to China and is burned with coal in China … you get exceptionally high volumes of CO2 emitted from the products we make. We call them scope three emissions.”
He says a large percentage of CO2 emitted globally comes from the steel industry, and that’s why it’s their responsibility to take action.
“We have an obligation and responsibility to go downstream, and we’ve announced plans to build a green metal facility in Australia. We’ll have that completed in a year’s time, which will demonstrate you can produce a metal – a 95 percent iron metal -without the use of coal. You can do it with hydrogen as a chemical process.”
Fortescue has also designed a hydrogen fuel cell electric mining truck and partnered with a manufacturer to produce it.
And these will help move the firm toward a bigger-picture goal.
“We announced real zero scope one and two emissions targets by 2030, which is quite aspirational for heavy industrial emitters like us,” says Otranto.
But Newsroom environmental reporter David Williams says this is only part of the picture, and the narrative should be looked at critically.
“In a general sense, scope one and two emissions are what you can control within your little company, so the emissions that come from your own operations.
“Scope three includes everything in what they call the value chain. So in the case of a big company like Fortescue, for example, they have 98 percent of their emissions in scope three. That’s because they dig up the iron ore and there are emissions associated with that but then the steel-making is done by someone else, and that’s the real nasty, that’s where the real business is in terms of emissions.”
He says that, while it’s a ‘good thing’ for companies to do more for the planet, people should take green claims with a grain of salt.
“If you look at something in isolation it really doesn’t tell you the whole story.
“Air New Zealand… moves people around by burning fossil fuels, for example. If you’re not looking at that aspect of its operation then you’re not really looking at the whole story, and it’s the same for Fortescue. If you’re not looking at steel-making, which is where its iron ore goes to, then you’re not looking at the whole story either.”
But Williams thinks there are promising innovations for alternative ways to keep an economy afloat while taking care of the planet. He points to lab meat as an example.
“Smart economies and intelligent people come up with solutions in different industries that aren’t as polluting that can do the same job,” he says.
“So there is hope.”
For more on Fortescue’s innovations, and Williams’ reaction to them, listen to this episode of The Detail.
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