https://www.miningweekly.com

World must target absolute zero emissions, Australian iron-ore mogul says

4th October 2021

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

The world needs to focus on absolute zero emissions, rather than a net zero target, and use clean hydrogen to get there rather than relying on unproven technologies such as carbon capture and storage, Australian iron-ore titan Andrew Forrest said on Monday.

Forrest, who grew Fortescue Metals Group into the world's fourth largest iron-ore miner in less than two decades, has turned his attention to developing green energy projects such as hydrogen around the world.

Australia's richest man said the idea of reaching "net zero" by 2050 - a pillar of the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow - was a "smokescreen" that suggested climate change could be solved by burying or offsetting carbon emissions.

"It's not going to happen," said Forrest, speaking on a panel at the Reuters Impact conference.

"The fossil fuel industry has lobbied hard... to get taxpayers to fund their attempt at a transition to 'clean' energy – on their timetable. But that's a highway to climate disaster."

Of the 60-million tonnes of hydrogen produced every year, 96% was still made from fossil fuels, Forrest said. "Green hydrogen is the solution we need to get to absolute zero," he said. Green hydrogen is made from water, using renewable electricity, while other sorts such as "blue" hydrogen are produced from fossil fuels.

The International Energy Agency backed a bigger role for hydrogen on Monday, saying governments needed to step up investment in hydrogen production and storage chains to help cut net emissions to zero.

The Australian government is pushing both hydrogen development and carbon capture and storage (CCS) to cut emissions, as it views CCS as essential to the future use of gas and coal, the country's second- and third-largest export earners.

But the 20 pilot CCS plants in existence worldwide capture only 0.4% of the CO2 emitted globally by power stations and industrial processes, Forrest said.

To meet a net zero emissions target by 2050, the IEA projects the world would need to capture and store 7.6 billion tonnes a year of carbon dioxide by 2050, up from current CCS capacity of 40 million tonnes a year.

"Carbon capture and storage, despite having received billions of subsidies for decades, remains an unproven failure, far from commercial viability," said Forrest.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION