A mineral producer revealed how it plans to abandon at least one fossil fuel and transition towards eco friendly power.
Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has detailed exactly how the company intends to phase-out a heavy petroleum fraction across all mine sites no later than the year 2030.
Subsidiary Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) recently struck a deal with Deutsche Bahn (DB) to investigate replacing diesel across rail applications.
A research team will collaboratively develop a new, carbon-free internal combustion engine that runs on a mix of green hydrogen and ammonia gas.
“Cutting edge technology and real-world solutions are key to addressing climate change,” FMG founding chairman Andrew Forrest said in a public statement.
Both companies earlier inked a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on decarbonisation technology opportunities.
“We are saying goodbye to diesel and relying on the latest technologies including the ammonia-hydrogen engine. This engine makes it possible to continue operating existing diesel vehicles without emissions … [and,] by 2040, the railway will be completely climate-neutral,” DB digitisation and technology board member Daniela Gerd tom Markotten said.
FMG has no immediate plans to phase-out liquefied natural gas.
“We see a role for gas fired power stations as emergency back-up, in case for the necessity for a black start or anything like that. It is not wasted capital, it gives us a very solid ‘plan b’ but our ‘plan a’ is to switch off all the intakes of fossil fuel into the FMG,” Forrest previously said.
“If you ask us we see accelerating fossil fuel costs. This is an environment where your highest risk is to do nothing.”
The mining magnate claims these changes will make FMG the world’s first heavy industry company to implement a fully costed decarbonisation strategy, eliminate fossil fuel use and achieve “real” zero emissions.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels could cost the proponent up to US$6.2 billion (A$9.2B). If the business successfully reduces annual operating costs by US$818 million (A$1.2B), AMR predicts it could achieve a return on investment in less than eight years.
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