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How did they mine the iron ore without fossil fuels? The mining industry accounts for ~10% of world energy consumption. Around ~80% of the world's electricity u

by yesbut 5y ago

How did they mine the iron ore without fossil fuels? The mining industry accounts for ~10% of world energy consumption. Around ~80% of the world's electricity use.

oxymoron 5y ago
Swedish electricity production is essentially carbon neutral. There’s a 50/50 split between nuclear and renewables. At times, there’s imports from the European grid, which does include coal and gas &c, so by that accounting it may not be fully neutral. However, the mining industry is in the far north which has an abundance of cheap hydropower, so it’s probably true that the ore can be mined entirely using renewable energy in Sweden.
- yesbut 5y ago
  "can" doesn't mean they are. Sweden produces ~80 million tons of ore per year. I can say with 100% certainty that they are not doing the heavy lifting with renewables.
  - oxymoron 5y ago
    I’m sure there’s machinery in use which is powered by fossil fueles. You did mention separately that the mining industry is a heavy user of electricity, though, so I was referring to that aspect in particular. Apologies for not making that clear.
  - VoxPelli 5y ago
    They do have a test mine that is carbon free and are working actively on scaling it up: https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process-development/research-collaborations/new-world-standard-for-sustainable-mining/ https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process...
- moogly 5y ago
  What is often forgotten, when mentioning the imports of "dirty" power from abroad, is that Sweden exports way more electricity per year than gets imported (for 2020, 37 TWh exported and 12 TWh imported). Sweden has had an electricity surplus since 2011, mostly due to wind power.
  - belorn 5y ago
    Finding someone willing to buy excess power when weather conditions are optimal is not the same thing as burning fossil fuels in order to generate power. Describing the two as being equal is dishonest and it harms the very important goal of stopping climate change. Sweden export more textile that is produce by non-child labor than they buy textile that is produce by child labor. They have a surplus in ethical produced textile.
moogly 5y ago
That's a great question. They've stated the aim is to electrify the whole fleet of machines and vehicles (the main transport by train has been in place for a long time[1]), including the entire mine, but I doubt there's been enough time to design/construct that kind of equipment. Information is scarce on this. I would guess it's a bit of a marketing stunt only counting the actual production process for now (and possibly transport) for this pilot project. BTW, the steel industry in Sweden currently eats up about 15% of the electricity production of the nation (and the two main companies together, LKAB and SSAB, are responsible for about the same percentage of all CO2 emissions). This new project, when fully operational, will require an additional 50% of the current total capacity, which will definitely be a challenge. [1]: https://wikiless.org/wiki/Iron_Ore_Line?lang=en https://wikiless.org/wiki/Iron_Ore_Line?lang=en

by yesbut 5y ago

How did they mine the iron ore without fossil fuels? The mining industry accounts for ~10% of world energy consumption. Around ~80% of the world's electricity use.

oxymoron 5y ago

Swedish electricity production is essentially carbon neutral. There’s a 50/50 split between nuclear and renewables. At times, there’s imports from the European grid, which does include coal and gas &c, so by that accounting it may not be fully neutral. However, the mining industry is in the far north which has an abundance of cheap hydropower, so it’s probably true that the ore can be mined entirely using renewable energy in Sweden.

yesbut 5y ago
"can" doesn't mean they are. Sweden produces ~80 million tons of ore per year. I can say with 100% certainty that they are not doing the heavy lifting with renewables.
- oxymoron 5y ago
  I’m sure there’s machinery in use which is powered by fossil fueles. You did mention separately that the mining industry is a heavy user of electricity, though, so I was referring to that aspect in particular. Apologies for not making that clear.
- VoxPelli 5y ago
  They do have a test mine that is carbon free and are working actively on scaling it up: https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process-development/research-collaborations/new-world-standard-for-sustainable-mining/ https://www.lkab.com/en/about-lkab/technological-and-process...
moogly 5y ago
What is often forgotten, when mentioning the imports of "dirty" power from abroad, is that Sweden exports way more electricity per year than gets imported (for 2020, 37 TWh exported and 12 TWh imported). Sweden has had an electricity surplus since 2011, mostly due to wind power.
- belorn 5y ago
  Finding someone willing to buy excess power when weather conditions are optimal is not the same thing as burning fossil fuels in order to generate power. Describing the two as being equal is dishonest and it harms the very important goal of stopping climate change. Sweden export more textile that is produce by non-child labor than they buy textile that is produce by child labor. They have a surplus in ethical produced textile.

moogly 5y ago

That's a great question. They've stated the aim is to electrify the whole fleet of machines and vehicles (the main transport by train has been in place for a long time[1]), including the entire mine, but I doubt there's been enough time to design/construct that kind of equipment. Information is scarce on this. I would guess it's a bit of a marketing stunt only counting the actual production process for now (and possibly transport) for this pilot project. BTW, the steel industry in Sweden currently eats up about 15% of the electricity production of the nation (and the two main companies together, LKAB and SSAB, are responsible for about the same percentage of all CO2 emissions). This new project, when fully operational, will require an additional 50% of the current total capacity, which will definitely be a challenge. [1]: https://wikiless.org/wiki/Iron_Ore_Line?lang=en https://wikiless.org/wiki/Iron_Ore_Line?lang=en