Energy
We consume energy in our operations and we also produce it. Our smelting and mineral processing operations are energy intensive and depend heavily on electricity, coal, oil, diesel and gas to keep them running. The majority of our electricity use is from greenhouse friendly hydro and nuclear power. Much of this is from our own hydropower generating facilities, which have a combined generating capacity of more than 3,900MW. At the same time, Rio Tinto is one of the world's leading producers of coal and of uranium for the electricity industry.
We believe the energy challenge can best be met by companies, governments and society working together. Global energy demand growth will require use of all available energy sources: fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency. The goal in each case should be to continually improve the cost-security-cleanliness equation, by fully recognising and addressing the risks involved and benefits achievable. Technology development will be at the heart of improved energy solutions.
- Approach
- Technology
- Results
In 2010 our operations used 512 Petajoules of energy. The 16 Petajoule increase from 2009 was a result of increased production across most commodities. However, through our coal and uranium sales, we supplied 4,735 Petajoules of world energy demand. Our energy supply was more than 8 times our own energy use in 2010.
Forty nine per cent (251 petajoules) of the energy we used in 2010 was electricity. Of that total, 145 petajoules was electricity purchased from commercial networks and 124 petajoules was electricity we generated from 170 petajoules of energy used at our hydroelectric, natural gas, coal, diesel and fuel oil power stations. We exported 18 petajoules of the electricity we generated to remote communities near our operations or to commercial networks in cases where our generation exceeded our needs.
Sixty seven per cent of our total electricity use was sourced from hydro, nuclear and other renewable power sources. We have significant hydropower generation facilities in Canada and Scotland and are currently developing a hydropower strategy to better manage the social and environmental threats and opportunities associated with our hydropower dams.
To drive improvement in energy efficiency our businesses have set a range of local energy targets that cover nearly three quarters of the Group's energy use. See our library of local sustainable development reports here.
Several operations are investing in lower emissions and energy efficient technologies, to help us improve our future energy performance. Rio Tinto Alcan continues to invest in clean hydropower. Kennecott Utah Copper is constructing a co-generation facility and Rio Tinto Iron Ore is upgrading its Pilbara power station using more efficient technology. Kennecott Utah Copper also implemented various behavioural energy management initiatives.
