Integrating renewable energy into mining operations: Opportunities, challenges, and enabling approaches

Igogo, Tsisilile; Awuah-Offei, Kwame; Newman, Alexandra; Lowder, Travis; Engel-Cox, Jill

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117375

Title: Integrating renewable energy into mining operations: Opportunities, challenges, and enabling approaches

Journal Article · Tue Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Applied Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117375· OSTI ID:1812198

Igogo, Tsisilile ^[1];

^[2];

^[3]; Lowder, Travis ^[1];

^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO (United States)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

Mining is one of the most energy-intensive industries worldwide. It also provides a critical source of raw materials for the manufacturing, transportation, construction, and energy sectors. Demand for raw materials is projected to increase as the world population grows and many low-income economies become middle-income countries. This growth in mineral demand, coupled with falling mineral ore grade, will likely increase the mining industry’s energy demand, used for activities across exploration, extraction, beneficiation and processing, and refining. At the time of this writing, mine operations are – due to their remoteness – dependent on fossil fuels such as diesel, heavy oils, and coal. In principle, mining could use energy recovery, renewable energy, and carbon capture to supplement, replace, or mitigate the impacts of fossil fuel use. However, a combination of renewable-energy technologies would be required. We explore challenges, opportunities, and enabling approaches to integrate renewable energy technologies into mining operations by examining the literature, including academic work, technical reports, and data produced by international agencies. Here, we find that despite numerous opportunities, technical issues still need to be considered, but solutions can tailor renewables to the mining industry. Further research should focus on identifying specific opportunities, technologies, and implementation strategies across the value chain of a variety of minerals with similar operational procedures.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1812198

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1808736

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-6A50-80056; MainId:42259; UUID:199c203d-79c3-4e37-a6f6-600a695b0310; MainAdminID:48409

Journal Information:: Applied Energy, Vol. 300; ISSN 0306-2619

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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