Hydrogen to make its mark on mining

Batteries or fuel cells. That is the question. Is it nobler in the mine to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous alternative fuel options. Or to take arms against a sea of fossil fuel. And by making a hard decision, the idea of which alternative fuel is better. Apologies to The Bard but that’s the contention put up at the recent World Mining Congress (WMC) in Brisbane. Dr Ruth Knibbe did her PhD in electrochemical energy system design looking at fuel cells and has since worked on electrolyser and battery systems. She addressed the WMC on how hydrogen cells and batteries fit into options for transport. Related: The world’s first hydrogen-powered haul truck could help clean up the mining industry The use of hydrogen fuel cells were a play in progress on minesites looking to decarbonize large infrastructure, said Dr Knibbe who is deputy head of the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at University of Queensland. Dr Ruth Knibbe Deputy Director School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering UQ “It (fuel cells) needs to have more testing to have confidence within the mining industry,” Dr Knibbe said. “A lot of the large mining equipment manufacturers have some interest in hydrogen but that would be in the longer term future, as opposed to batteries, which they can use immediately today,” “However, the limitation that you'll have with batteries on very large mine sites is in regards to charging. So there's going to be huge amounts of energy that you need on the mine site. So how are you going to charge all of these batteries? “And that's potentially where hydrogen could be a solution to decarbonizing a large mine site.” Dr Knibbe worked overseas for ten years and said the whole attitude around renewable energy in Australia had changed since she returned six years ago. Fuel cells would develop their potential over the next decade she said. “So currently the online production is around one gigawatt of hydrogen around the world. It's forecast to increase by 2030 to around over a hundred gigawatts of hydrogen production. “The next thing that we need is to have demonstration of fuel cells that can be used in heavy duty applications and I think that when we see those demonstrations coming online, there'll be more interest. “But at the same time, we need to see a decrease in the cost of the fuel cells as well. Because they're relatively expensive at the moment.” Transport and storage of hydrogen were among the biggest challenges the mining industry needed to address, Dr Knibbe said. “There needs to be a systems level approach in regards to how you're going to be doing that. What excited her was the move towards decarbonization in mining despite the pathway Dr Knibbe said. “I think they're (mines) probably a little bit more underneath the magnifying glass than under industries. Because it's a big industry in Australia. And so it's a big emitter in the Australian context,” she said. “They also have the spread across the world and they see what's happening internationally as well. So I think that they have the capability and they have the interest and the potential to actually look at these decarbonization and sustainability solutions. “In five years’ time we'll have a better indicator as to whether this is going be happening for fuel cells. And in ten years’ time, we'll be very clear again whether fuel cells are going to have any kind of place to play in reducing carbon emissions from the mining industry.”

Hydrogen to make its mark on mining

Industry Queensland

Related News

Budget brings tax credits for critical minerals sector

Anglo selling off coal interests in radical shake-up

Castillo Copper keen to develop Big One

Get access to breaking mining news, now.