How Chile spurs green hydrogen research to decarbonize mining sector

While renewable energy has helped Chile’s mining industry reduce Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, Scope 1 and Scope 3 reductions can only be achieved by increasing energy efficiency, electrification and clean energy PPAs, green hydrogen is essential, an official says.

Nationally, Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions “represent about one-fifth of diesel consumed in the country and have the potential to be reduced in many cases. [consumption] It involves the implementation and testing of technologies that are not yet mature at an industrial level,” said Undersecretary of Mines Willie Gratt at a seminar on decarbonisation organized by the Ministry of Mines.

To make green hydrogen possible, Kracht said, „we need to adapt regulation to enable these technologies, and adapt financial systems to the sector’s willingness to innovate.”

Development Corporation corfo Finance The Crea y Valida and Innova Alta Tecnología green hydrogen research projects, under which companies develop pilots to help miners achieve carbon neutrality goals as they mature.

Under National Mines principleTo achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, large-scale mining CO2 emissions must decrease by at least 50% by 2030. Part of this initiative includes zero emission fleets by 2025.

Direct CO2 sector emissions were 7.5Mt in 2020, compared to 106Mt nationally, but the figure would increase to 18.5Mt if indirect emissions were included, said Francisco Dall’Orso León, head of public mining policies.

CORFO PROJECTS

Corfo’s head of innovation, Juan Martínez, presented several other hydrogen projects.

• Corfo Centro is funding Mario Molina’s transplant research. Work began in December 2022 and is focused on converting fossil fuel vehicles to electricity using a hydrogen fuel cell. The research is aimed at vehicles that require more autonomy than that provided by battery systems.
• Steelmaker Huachibado’s blast furnace hydrogen project also began in December and seeks to incorporate green hydrogen to produce green steel and improve operating conditions, Martinez said.
• AndesVolt, which develops jobs in remote hybrid generation systems, will start building a 15kVA power generation and storage system in July. The remotely controlled system must operate in an integrated and autonomous manner under extreme weather conditions.
• Engineering firm Salamanca Henríquez converts a mine front loader from diesel to hydrogen. The work started in December.

See Corfu’s hydrogen appeals and funding opportunities Here. Chile is the world’s largest producer of copper.