INTEGRATED DESIGN
The following depicts an integrated housing apartment with solar panels for charging cars and charging household batteries.
The current global environment requires a new approach to how mining companies look at the way energy is being delivered to mine sites. In the past, remote sites were powered of the grid which was coal fired or based on diesel fired power stations. Renewable energy technology for lowering carbon emissions, whilst optimising energy costs, is becoming an attractive trend for how modern mine sites operate. This follows the Kyoto Protocol that bases its commitment to limit and reduce its greenhouse gasses in industrialised countries as a response to climate change. Renewable energy is an energy that is produced from our planet’s natural resources. Energy such as solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, ocean, and geothermal energy requires many different technologies in order to constantly generate and store electricity. One of the most widely used methods of energy collection is the use of solar panels.
The renewable energy microgrid under discussion includes solar and wind energy that is to be harvested for the use of electricity. The electricity is to be stored in batteries to which the stored electricity is used in supplement for added security to the gas engine power station. The use of solar panels paired with wind turbines, is an effective way to maintain a reliable energy supply as the wind does not blow all the time, nor is there constant solar energy occurring between cloudy and non-cloudy days.
Solar panel farms have been used on several mining projects such as Sandfire resource’s DeGrussa Copper-Gold mine, Oz Minerals West Musgrave nickel project, Rio Tinto’s Koodaideri iron ore mine and Rio Tinto’s Weipa bauxite plant and Agnew gold mine for the reasons of saving on the use of diesel and ultimately reducing the amount of carbon emissions.
THE NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE POWER SYSTEMS
The European Union has made its decision official to ban new internal combustion engine cars from 2035. Expected to reshape road transportation globally, the ban marks a significant step on the path toward zero tailpipe emissions in the region.
The decision, which was agreed upon by the EU’s three key institutions; its executive arm, the parliament, and its member states, stated that vehicle manufacturers must reach a zero emissions target by 2035.
All electric vehicles are increasingly common on public roads today. The automotive industry is embracing electrification to reduce emissions from the transportation sector.
In the U.S., transportation emissions contributed the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, at 27 percent (EPA, 2022). In the same year, it is estimated that transportation accounted for 7.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions globally (IEA, 2021). As we work to reduce our impact on the environment, reducing these emissions is crucial. Several solutions to the problem of transportation emissions have been proposed, tested, and even put into production. The most prominent today is the electric powertrain. In the last five years, vehicle electrification has gained widespread, global support as a practical and expedient means of reducing carbon emissions in the transportation sector. By powering vehicles with electricity instead of gasoline, we can eliminate the tail-pipe emissions that a traditional vehicle generates as it burns fuel, while delivering a comparable driving and user experience. As a result, this approach is gaining significant momentum and should continue to do so as more models are brought to market, costs fall, and new environmental regulations come into effect around the world.
The process used to produce hydrogen is an important consideration in the development of a hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system. Pictured here is an electrolysis process powered by wind energy. While progress is being made, the electric powertrain still faces some challenges with respect to their overall impact on the environment. The same is true for other forms of alternative energy and sustainable power systems. To create a truly sustainable power system, companies should approach its development, implementation, and maintenance in the field from a complete, system-of-systems perspective. By doing so, they can account for and minimize the total environmental footprint of the system, while also facilitating an innovative and productive development environment for their engineers and partners.
SUSTAINABILITY DEMANDS A SYSTEM-OF-SYSTEMS APPROACH
For example, consider the sustainability decisions that go into the sourcing, transportation, and storage of hydrogen for a hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft. First, where is the hydrogen being produced and by what methods? Today, most hydrogen production uses steam-methane reformation, which consumes large amounts of energy and produces carbon dioxide as a by-product. Steam-methane reformation facilities that employ carbon-capture technology can produce cleaner hydrogen, but they do so at a greater cost. An entirely different process relies on electrolysis of water to create hydrogen without direct carbon emissions, though this process tends to be the most expensive. Finally, since both steam-methane reformation and electrolysis require energy, it is also important to consider whether this energy is being derived from fossil fuels or alternative sources of energy. Additionally, how will the hydrogen be transported from its production facility to airfields, and then stored for service to the hydrogen fuel-cell airplane? Hydrogen may be stored in either liquid or gas form, but both require specialized tanks that can support either high pressures, for gas, or extremely low temperatures to prevent liquid hydrogen from boiling. Such infrastructure likely does not exist at most airports and will need to be constructed to enable onsite hydrogen storage. These storage considerations further impact options for transporting the hydrogen. While hydrogen pipelines do exist, they are built to serve chemical plants and petroleum refineries, not airports. Thus, the hydrogen required for the fuel-cell aircraft must be moved by trucks or other ground transport. The emissions of these ground transports must be captured and considered to create a complete sustainability picture. Outside of the hydrogen, the aircraft manufacturer will also need a way to account for the materials used to construct the aircraft itself, including the hydrogen fuel cell, electronics, electric motors, and more. So, as a company developing a sustainable power system, how do you coordinate your development and implementation of the power system with a complex web of suppliers and partners across the globe to achieve a truly sustainable system?
REMOTE MINESITES
The Australian mining industry has been based on high-cost diesel fired power stations for power supply. The mining industry is leading the way in renewables, a change that has not been well recognised. The business case for renewables in mining, which has been underwritten by Rio Tinto’s Weipa project and Sandfire Resources Solar Project, is being followed by a Gold Mine which will serve as a blueprint for other companies to deploy similar off-grid energy solutions helping to decarbonise the mining sector. The renewable Gold Mine hybrid microgrid will consist of five wind turbines delivering 18 MW, a 10,000 panel 4MW solar farm and a 13MW Battery Energy Storage System underpinned by a 16 MW gas engine power station. This renewable microgrid is expected to provide 60% of the energy required for the project. The current global environment requires a new approach to how mining companies look at the way energy is being delivered to mine sites. In the past, remote sites were powered of the grid which was coal fired or based on diesel fired power stations. Renewable energy technology for lowering carbon emissions, whilst optimising energy costs, is becoming an attractive trend for how modern mine sites operate. This follows the Kyoto Protocol that bases its commitment to limit and reduce its greenhouse gasses in industrialised countries as a response to climate change.
Renewable energy is an energy that is produced from our planet’s natural resources. Energy such as solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, ocean, and geothermal energy requires many different technologies to constantly generate and store electricity. One of the most widely used methods of energy collection is the use of solar panels.
The renewable energy microgrid under discussion includes solar and wind energy that is to be harvested for the use of electricity. The electricity is to be stored in batteries to which the stored electricity is used in supplement for added security to the gas engine power station. The use of solar panels paired with wind turbines is an effective way to maintain a reliable energy supply as the wind does not blow all the time, nor is there constant solar energy occurring between cloudy and non-cloudy days.
Solar panel farms have been used on several mining projects such as Sandfire resource’s DeGrussa Copper-Gold mine, Oz Minerals West Musgrave nickel project, Rio Tinto’s Koodaideri iron ore mine, Rio Tinto’s Weipa bauxite plant, and Agnew gold mine for the reasons of saving on the use of diesel and ultimately reducing the amount of carbon emissions.
Microgrid technology is another example of renewable energy technology. Microgrids are used to accurately predict where and when electricity is required. These types of technologies are vital towards the 24/7 demands of mine site operations.
HYBRID MICROGRIDS
Hybrid microgrids are systems that can automate the management of power from different sources to maintain stable and resilient power supply. With the employ of energy storage system and with lower costs for wind and solar energy generation, the integration of hybrid microgrids to include renewable technologies enables cost-effective, reliable, efficient, and flexible power supply without access to major utility grid. Hybrid microgrids are ideal for applications with high power demand and applications where power supply is limited, especially in remote areas.
As shown in Figure 2, hybrid microgrid is consisted of distributed resources which are parallel connected. This arrangement allows the system to operate in both islanded and grid connected modes which will reduce the operating costs significantly when compared to conventional energy generation systems.
REFERENCES
Australian Government. (2018, June 26). Hybrid power generation for Australian off-grid mines. Retrieved from ARENA: https://arena.gov.au/assets/2018/06/hybrid-power-generation-australian-off-grid-mines.pdf
Australian Government. (2020). Advancing Renewables Program – Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Retrieved from Australian Renewable Energy Agency: https://arena.gov.au/funding/advancing-renewables-program
Australian Government. (2020, February 16). Wind Energy. Retrieved from AREA: https://arena.gov.au/renewable-energy/wind
Battery University. (2020). BU-1001: Batteries in Industries – Battery University. Retrieved from Batteryuniversity.com: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/batteries_for_medical_consumer_hobbyist
EPA. (2022). Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Retrieved from United States Environmental Protection Agency.
IEA. (2021, November). Tracking Transport 2021. Retrieved from International Energy Agency.
Government of Western Australia. (2020). Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa Copper Mine. Retrieved from Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
Mining Technology. (2020). West Musgrave Copper and Nickel Project, Australia. Retrieved from Mining Technology | Mining News and Views Updated Daily: https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/west-musgrave-project
Parkinson, G. (2020). Mining giant looks to wind and solar to power huge nickel project. Retrieved from RenewEconomy: https://reneweconomy.com.au/mining-giant-looks-to-wind-and-solar-to-power-huge-nickel-project-83753
Parkinson, G. (2020). Rio Tinto switches on largest solar plant at Australian mine. Retrieved from RenewEconomy.
Zhou, V. (2020). Gold Fields powers up Agnew renewable project – Australian Mining. Retrieved from Australian Mining: https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/gold-fields-powers-up-agnew-renewable-project/