Decarbonising the critical raw materials sector: Challenges and opportunities for Central Asia

Greenhouse Gas commitments for countries in Central Asia are outlined in nationally determined contribution statements. These are required for all countries within the Paris Agreement, and each country must include a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5ºC. These have been considered for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan and key points are shown below:

• All commitments include specific GHG reduction targets
• The plans concentrate on improving emissions from energy production through increased renewables and the use of energy from waste and biogas
• They consider adoption of carbon capture and storage technology, though there is no mention of utilisation
• Tree planting is included as an offsetting measure
• Sustainable agriculture is mentioned
• Electrification of personal passenger transport is included for urban areas
• Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings is also included for urban areas
• There is very little specific to the industrial sector, other than a statement for Tajikistan to increase energy efficiency of industry through the installation of more efficient equipment, changes in production technologies, heat reduction losses and/or increased use waste heat and/or efficiency use of resources.

For all countries, route maps and specific measures for industry are needed, in particular for the mining and metals sectors.

Why decarbonise?

There are several significant drivers for industry to decarbonise:

Attract finance: Major international financers favour companies taking significant measures to decarbonise.

Legislation: Legislation could support decarbonisation, however, at the moment this is lacking in countries in central Asia. Much of the production of metals and mining flows into the EU and other regulated markets. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) favours products with lower carbon intensity.

Grid constraints: In remote areas, grid constraints can be a major concern therefore, decarbonisation through installation of renewable energy would reduce reliance on energy from the grid.

Customer demands: Many customers are also concerned with their carbon footprint, which includes suppliers, and therefore they may select their suppliers based on the carbon intensity of the product.

Save money: Decarbonisation through energy efficiency can result in a reduction in operational costs however, some measures (such as heat pumps and carbon capture) can result in an increase in operational costs initially but may have a long-term financial benefit.

How to decarbonise

In order for mining and metals companies to decarbonise, a five step strategy is recommended.

Step 1 - Understand the position today: Calculate your emissions baseline which should include Scope 1, 2 and 3. Scope 1 includes direct energy consumption (such as natural gas, diesel, oil, etc.) and process emissions. Scope 2 are those associated with imported energy, such as grid electricity. Scope 3 emissions are those associated with upstream and downstream supply chains, emissions from third parties eg: equipment suppliers 3rd party transport and distribution.

Step 2 - Developing your strategy: Once the data is in place for the carbon footprint, a strategy should be developed, including setting targets for carbon reduction. Some large mining companies have been set individual reduction targets by governments. This can be supported by a public commitment. Examples of declarations and commitments include:

• CDP: Public declaration of GHG emissions and sustainability activity. The performance is rated and published, with an incentive to improve the score year on year.
• SBTi: The Science Based Target Initiative helps companies set greenhouse‑gas reduction goals that align with climate science and the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C pathway. It provides standards and validates corporate targets to ensure they are credible and science‑based.
• ISO 50001: This is a certification for an energy management system, and as such does not cover all GHG emissions reduction potential such as fuel switching, renewables, change in process emission composition. It could be coupled with an Environmental Management System accredited to ISO 140001 which would include carbon emissions alongside numerous other environmental factors.

Step 3 - Decarbonisation roadmap: A decarbonisation roadmap includes a practical plan for implementation of measures which will allow the organisation to meet their targets. There is an interdependency between carbon, energy, water, waste, circular economy, process efficiency. It is recommended that a decarbonisation roadmap consider all of these aspects together, so as to develop the most cost effective and business centric plan.

The decarbonisation roadmap needs to be dynamic, taking into account mineral quality, energy and water costs, quality, transport and customer specifications.

The availability and maturity of available technology will also impact the plan. Proven technology provides lower risk and more certain outcomes and benefits.

Step 4 - Implementing the decarbonisation roadmap: Implementation must be planned carefully to take into account finance availability, project lead times, product demands.

Step 5 - Reporting: Continuously monitoring the decarbonisation impact will enable quantification of benefits and ensures savings are maintained. Monitoring will also indicate where operating practices are diverting from the optimum or if equipment efficiencies are reducing. A metering and verification strategy should be included with every project before implementation.

Any reporting should be verified as being robust and correct for external publication.

How does this relate to the CRM sector?

The CRM sector includes all operations for deep and open cast mining to ore preparation and metals production. Key areas for decarbonisation and carbon management for the CRM sector include:

• Energy consumption and supply decarbonisation
• Mine ventilation optimisation for deep mines
• Haulage of minerals from deep and open cast mines, and how to minimise energy consumption. This may include projects such as in pit crush and convey or tram assist
• Crushing and comminution
• Ore heat treatment using alternative fuels and heat recovery
• Smelting heat integration, heat recovery.

How could these be mitigated: It is possible to look at each area for decarbonisation in isolation, however this would not result in an optimal solution and is likely to require higher CAPEX. There are however several techniques than can be applied to the whole value chain:

• Integrated reduction programme to include energy, carbon, water, waste and circular economy. All of these aspects are interdependent
• Modelling of mitigation methods over life of mine and life of asset. The benefits from a mitigation portfolio will depend on projected mineral quality, water availability, energy prices etc
• Collaborative decarbonisation audits. These should utilise independent experts and involve train the trainer and building local capability.

Are there any case studies or interesting projects?
Global mining and minerals company conducted integrated efficiency programme, using external and internal resources. Global dashboards and benchmarking of achieved savings helped track and motivate further savings. An internal cost of carbon supported prioritising decarbonisation projects. The project achieved incremental savings of US$10-14M every year over more than 10 years.

Modelling of mining and metals production in South America enabled clarity of investment strategy and robust decisions to be made. Over 200 mitigation measures were modelled over life of mine, taking into consideration mineral quality, energy and water availability and costs and carbon emissions.