Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our business
We operate in 35 countries where our 60,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our purpose in action
Continuous improvement and innovation are part of our DNA
Innovation
The need for innovation is greater than ever
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
The primary raw material used to make steel, which is strong, long-lasting and cost-efficient
Lithium
The lightest of all metals, it is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies
Copper
Tough but malleable, corrosion-resistant and recyclable, and an excellent conductor of heat and transmitter of electricity
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Oyu Tolgoi
One of the most modern, safe and sustainable operations in the world
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Nature solutions
Our nature-based solutions projects complement the work we're doing to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Enabling ESG transparency
Our START™ initiative tracks traceability and responsible production of Rio Tinto materials.
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Reports 2024
Download our 2024 suite of reports, including our 2024 Taxes and Royalties Paid Report, detailing $8.4 billion of taxes and royalties paid globally during the year
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Things You Can't Live Without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
Refuelling the mining industry
How can we power the world’s biggest machines with new fuel solutions?
Forging a low-carbon future
How we're working to decarbonise iron ore and steel
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and students
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
Empowering families with flexibility
Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
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There is a lot of hype about green hydrogen.
It’s certainly one solution that can help decarbonise some hard-to-abate industry sectors.
In our business, we expect to use it as a reductant for zero-carbon steel making and iron and titanium production, and for calcining in our alumina refineries. In all these cases, we’ll use hydrogen’s unique chemical properties for processing minerals and metals, rather than using hydrogen as an energy carrier.
There are still some challenges we need to overcome before green hydrogen can play a major role in decarbonising our operations.
Hydrogen is a very energy-intensive material to produce – approximately four times more per tonne than aluminium. It will take some time to establish the electrolyser supply chain that’s needed to deliver green hydrogen at the scale needed for industry. We’re working with government and industry partners to assess hydrogen use in industry and support a coordinated approach to developing a local supply chain.
For hydrogen to be widely adopted, it also needs to be a cost-efficient solution. One of the ways we can make it more affordable for wider industrial use is by developing technologies that can be built into existing infrastructure, avoiding the need to build new equipment or making large-scale (expensive) modifications. Our engineering teams are looking at how we may be able to do that.
We have also invested in Electric Hydrogen, a start-up that has reduced capital intensity by a factor of three relative to competitor options through combining better process design and system engineering with a scientific breakthrough.
Hydrogen is prone to leakage from storage and transport facilities – an estimated 1% per day can be lost when stored in liquid form. It has a global warming potential of 5–16 times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years, making it potentially more damaging to use than burning natural gas. Given this, we plan to consume hydrogen close to its point of generation to avoid supply chain leakage and energy transformation losses.
Where possible we will always seek to electrify our processes as much as we can, for example by using electric boilers to raise steam for mineral refining, rather than using hydrogen as a fuel. That’s because we lose energy each time we transform an energy from one source to another, so using renewable energy to generate green hydrogen is less efficient than using that renewable energy to directly electrify an operation. This is what makes direct electrification so compelling and capital efficient – it’s a far more efficient use of the valuable renewable electricity resource. Instead, we will use hydrogen for its chemical properties where electrification cannot play a role.
Find out more about our decarbonisation activities in our Climate Change Report.