RIO TINTO TRIALS RENEWABLE DIESEL

A LANDMARK TRIAL HAS SHOWN RENEWABLE DIESEL CAN CUT EMISSIONS WITHOUT DISRUPTING OPERATIONS.

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Rio Tinto and Viva Energy have completed a trial using renewable diesel at the major miner's Pilbara operations.

For Rio Tinto, the trial is part of the company's sustainability targets, which include a 50 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and reaching net-zero by 2050.

“Diesel makes up about 70 per cent of the total carbon emissions from our Pilbara iron ore operations,” Rio Tinto managing director rail, port and core services Richard Cohen told Australian Mining.

“While electrification is the ultimate longer-term solution for repowering the majority of our fleet, we're also exploring biofuels as a complementary and nearer-term solution.”

Also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil, renewable diesel is made by hydrotreating waste vegetable oils and animal fats with hydrogen and catalysts. It reduces carbon emissions without modifications to existing diesel machinery and can be used across mining, transport, construction and agriculture.

The trial builds on previous successes at Boron and Kennecott operations in the US, where 11 per cent of global fossil diesel consumption has already been replaced with renewable diesel.