Designing for the future
Coal & Allied recognises that climate change will change the way we do business in the future. As a result, the risks associated with a changing climate, opportunities of a changing policy environment and the impacts of potential energy supplies are being factored into the design of our projects.
Understanding changes in local and international policy which influence our markets and customers' costs is a key element of delivering a sustainable business. Long term analysis indicates coal has an important role in the world's continued energy supply. Positioning our business to be a valued, long term contributor of energy requires changes to our business model and policies which we are committed to delivering.
To address this, we are:
- Designing new projects to include a price on carbon and to also incorporate energy and water efficiency
- Capturing energy efficiency ideas from projects across the Rio Tinto Group and investigating their implementation within Coal & Allied
- Updating our weather profile to include the latest credible information to incorporate into project design
- Investigating new options to capture coal seam methane from underground and open cut mines
- Continuing research into low emissions coal and carbon capture and storage technologies.
Results
In 2008 we commenced a range of programmes aimed at incorporating climate change considerations into the design of new projects:
- We continued to progress a pilot management project at Mount Thorley Warkworth through which Rio Tinto Coal Australia has been investigating the viability of a coal bed methane development project. The pilot will be continued in 2009
- Mount Thorley Warkworth has significantly improved low ash coal fines recovery at one of its coal processing plants through the development of novel floatation technology, improving resource efficiency and recovery
- Hunter Valley Operations in New South Wales developed a process to reuse waste oil in mine blasting activities. This new process helped save more than 194,000 litres of diesel which is the equivalent of 512 tonnes of carbon dioxide since June 2008.
