New tech for renewable transport

Last updated: 15 November 2022

The internal combustion engine, although it was the primary driver of industrial progress for two centuries, will likely be phased out entirely over the next few decades.

Energy solutions for transport have advanced significantly in recent years as the electric vehicle (EV) and solar industries have boomed. But we still rely heavily on emissions-heavy fuel for transport, haulage and logistics – these produce the fourth-highest emissions across our operations, with mobile diesel representing approximately 13% of our total emissions.

We’ve set emission reduction targets of 15% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, on the way to meeting our commitment of net-zero emissions from our operations by 2050. To achieve this, we’ll need to think differently about the way we operate and the way we use energy – including repowering our fleets.

We’re working on several projects that will electrify the mobile fleet at our Pilbara operations – including haul trucks, mobile equipment and rail operations – by replacing existing diesel fleets with battery and other technologies.

To support repowering our mobile fleet, we’re also working to transition our Iron Ore operations away from gas powered generation to renewable solar and wind power. We’re working on delivering the first one gigawatt of renewable energy, which will abate around 1 million tonnes of CO₂ – equivalent to more than what 200,000 cars would emit in a year, and about a third of our 2021 total Scope 1 and 2 emissions across our iron ore business.

Finding right-size haul trucks that measure up

Across the mining industry, there’s been a long-held view that ‘bigger is better’. Enormous haul trucks provide economies of scale, allowing operations to move more material more quickly by leveraging the large trucks’ power and carrying capacity.

But we’re challenging our thinking on size. Larger haul trucks, while already automated, consume more energy than current electric-vehicle power sources can generate. By exploring truck size, we want to assess how big and small trucks can both be a part of the solution to reduce our emissions in the Pilbara and find fit-for-purpose solutions in mining.

At our Channar mine in the East Pilbara, we’re working with Scania to trial more agile automated trucks that could be electrified more readily to reduce our carbon emissions, and could improve our speed to market.

They could also reduce emissions and costs while improving mining practices across site infrastructure and operations. These trucks can operate on narrower roads, allowing us to cut steeper pit walls and reduce vegetation disturbance. This reduces the amount of earth we need to move to access the ore, which means the agile trucks help reduce our overall energy usage while we’re constructing and operating our sites.

We’re also exploring options to further reduce emissions of larger trucks through our partnerships with Komatsu and Caterpillar. We are working with both partners to develop their future 220t+ zero emissions autonomous haul trucks, including key development programs and milestones for early operational deployment.