Arafura Rare Earths Limited (ASX:ARU) has released its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction pathway for the electrical power and steam requirements for its 100%-owned Nolans Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) Project in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Highlights
Arafura has chosen a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction pathway for the Nolans NdPr Project to achieve its 2050 Net Zero Emissions commitment which includes:
– Electricity generation, from solar and wind with battery storage, targeting 50% of Project power by 2030.
– Concentrated solar thermal generation, with thermal energy storage for steam generation, with transition commencing in 2030.
– Transition to renewable fuels for firming power, commencing in 2040.
• The reduction pathway covers electrical power and thermal power as steam generation which together account for approximately 85% of the Project’s forecast emissions.
• Analysis demonstrates that the reduction pathway is likely to reduce total energy costs over the first 14-years of production and only result in a minor increase in costs over the life of mine.
• A demonstration scale, proof of concept, concentrated solar thermal system, combined with thermal energy storage, is planned prior to 2030.
To select the pathway, five different potential pathways were evaluated for reduction of GHG emissions from stationary power and steam generation. All candidate pathways had emissions profiles which achieved net zero by 2050 for stationary energy generation, through a combination of the deployment of zero emissions generation technologies and the phasing in of renewable fuels.
“The GHG emissions reduction pathway developed for Nolans demonstrates the viability of Arafura Rare Earths to become a net zero producer of NdPr oxide,” Arafura Rare Earth’s Managing Director, Gavin Lockyer, said.
“NdPr is critical to many of the products necessary to achieve a global net zero future, such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. By publicly releasing our GHG emissions reduction pathway for stationary power we are providing our customers, investors and other stakeholders with a better understanding of how we intend to meet our net zero 2050 commitments. As a result, the pathway will help our customers meet their own GHG emissions reduction objectives as well.
“We recognise we will need to address a range of challenges in decarbonising rare earth processing, which is, by its nature, an energy intensive process. Nonetheless, the Arafura team is committed to implementing a practical, cost- efficient pathway to net zero. We will keep a close watch on changes in the price, technology maturity and availability of relevant technologies, such as long-duration energy storage, and update the GHG emissions reduction pathway in future if it is appropriate to do so.”
For further information please visit: https://www.arultd.com/
