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Keliber drilling contractor using biofuel to cut drilling emissions

15th December 2021

By: Creamer Media Reporter

     

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Drilling contractor Kati has started using biofuel in the drill rig at Finnish miner Keliber’s exploration site in Central Ostrobothnia, a measure that will reduce the emissions caused by drilling by more than 50%.

“Taking the environment into consideration and minimising the negative impacts is a guiding principle for us at Kati, as well as Keliber. When we learned that Neste Non Road Diesel was available also in Northern Finland this autumn, Keliber was the first company we proposed to introduce it, and we received a positive answer right away,” says Kati acting MD Tapani Niskakangas.

According to calculations made by Kati, the switch from regular fuel oil to biofuel makes it possible to reduce emissions by 50% or even more.

It is estimated that during 2020 drilling at the Keliber work site, emissions of 78.04 t of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) were generated, of which 95.2% was owing to fuel use.

If biofuel had been used, the estimated emissions would have been 37.90 t of CO2e or 51% less.

“We are continuously looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact and improve our operations when new possibilities emerge. I am happy about this opportunity to switch to renewable energy at the drilling site,” comments Keliber CEO Hannu Hautala.   

Kati started to use biofuel at the Keliber site during the second week of December.

Niskakangas says the switch was easy, with the machines running on biofuel as smoothly as they do on fossil fuel. 

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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