A new contract to supply battery electric vehicles to the Jansen potash project (potentially the world’s largest potash mine) expects to cut carbon emissions in half compared to its peers. BHP’s Jansen potash project is expected to be the largest of its kind, with initial capacity forecasts of 4.3 to 4.5 Mtpa. Potash is the most commonly used potassium fertilizer, but over 70% is based on conventional underground mining that uses heavy-duty equipment to extract it. Although underground mining releases half the CO2 emissions of open-pit mining, the company is reducing emissions further by introducing several battery electric vehicles.
Source: Electrek: Read The Article
PSR Analysis: Almost every automaker plans to scale production of its electric vehicles to meet the growing demand for zero-emission cars, and these numbers are huge. However, getting to these numbers will require mining and traditionally this causes carbon emissions.
A few companies have already begun working to build a sustainable EV supply chain; Snow Lake Lithium outlined its plans in February to develop the world’s first all-electric lithium mine, one of the most critical minerals used to build EV batteries. The mining company’s CEO said at the time if you are going to mine for these resources that will be used to protect the environment, then obtaining them must also be done in a sustainable matter.
Miners using electric vehicles can significantly reduce the heat and carbon exposure they typically experience with diesel-powered equipment. EV mining technology can also cost less as it requires less ventilation and cooling. The importance of this is that as the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles, companies are figuring out ways to reduce carbon emissions. If miners get on board, this will create a completely sustainable EV supply chain. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research
