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As countries around the world prepare or implement new legislation on carbon emission and energy use, OZ Minerals is demonstrating industry leadership at their Prominent Hill copper mine in South Australia through identifying potential ‘green’ changes, well before the Australian government introduces an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Australian legislation is likely to be driven by a market driven carbon reduction mechanism, which will require all large corporations to report greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and production, as well as publicly disclose corporate level greenhouse gas emissions and energy information. This process will enable consistent and comparable data to be available for decision making.
Oz Minerals is taking a forward thinking and proactive approach to preparing for an ETS through developing effective reporting systems.
As part of Oz Minerals preparations, Golder Associates is helping the mine conduct an assessment of its current carbon reporting processes and a detailed energy efficiency review that will ultimately form part of a continuous improvement programme.
“The analysis involves defining a structured and consistent data set to meet all requirements for completeness, transparency, accuracy and comparability, and identifying short, medium and long term opportunities to deliver energy cost savings, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resource efficiency,” said Golder’s Principal Environmental Scientist on the project, Alex Blood.
A team from Golder is working alongside site personnel to develop methodologies for improvement, including gap analysis of current carbon reporting structures and processes, developing carbon reporting tools and standards for contractors, consideration of ‘beyond compliance’ emission reporting requirements, energy action planning, management practice assessments, and training and knowledge transfer.
The completed assessment will form the basis for a long term Sustainable Energy Efficiency Programme, which will meet all requirements of the forthcoming Australian legislation. Early action should also see the mine avoid some of the additional costs associated with the proposed ETS. |
