Energy and climate change
Reducing emissions from the mining and use of coal
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 four objectives:
- 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 among stakeholders that climate change is an issue that requires us all to change how we currently operate.
A planned update of the climate change programme was deferred until 2011 while we focussed on the implementation of business processes and systems to ensure compliance with new legislation related to greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and energy efficiency.
2010 activity
During 2010 we continued to improve our business systems to ensure continued compliance with Australian government legislation, completing reporting 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 second reporting cycle was the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010, during which Rio Tinto Coal Australia reported total emissions of 3,443,534 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. Read a report about Rio Tinto's EEO projects.
There was also a large amount of work dedicated to reducing our greenhouse gas emission footprint, energy use and our energy efficiency programme.
