Energy and climate change

Reducing emissions from the mining and use of coal

Our approach

It is important that our business contributes to climate change solutions and invests in research and development initiatives to find ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions throughout the coal chain.

We have actively managed our energy footprint and greenhouse gas emissions profile since 1996. Our current climate change programme, launched in 2007, has objectives in four key areas:

• the active research and promotion of technologies that reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the use of coal

• the improved use of energy at our operations, projects and supply chain

• designing future projects with energy efficiency and climate change risks considered

• raising awareness amongst stakeholders that climate change is an issue that requires us all to change how we currently operate.

A review of the three-year programme is available on our website by selecting from the navigation menu on the right. The climate change programme will be updated in 2010 considering the outcomes of the review.

2009 activity

During 2009 we introduced systems to ensure continued compliance with new Australian government legislation, completing assessments required by the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Act 2006 (EEO), and reporting under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (NGER).

NGER requires us to report our annual direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. The inaugural reporting cycle was the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, during which Rio Tinto Coal Australia reported total emissions of 3,201,933 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. Rio Tinto Coal Australia's NGER report was externally audited and verified prior to submission to the Australian Government.

EEO requires us to assess our energy use, including the identification, investigation and evaluation of energy saving opportunities, and to report publicly on these activities. A report of our EEO projects is available on the Rio Tinto website.

There was also a large amount of work dedicated to reducing our greenhouse gas emission footprint, energy use and our energy efficiency programme. Read more about these areas by selecting from the navigation menu on the right. More information about our commitment to low emission coal technology is available in the 'Product stewardship' section of our website.