Together, these vehicles account for the largest proportion of registered mining vehicles, and with some weighing as much as 500 tonnes, their electrification will have by far the largest impact on reducing emissions in the industry\u2019s fleets.<\/p>\n
\u201cMETS and mining companies are united on the Challenge to reduce emissions across the supply chain,\u201d said Austmine CEO Christine Gibbs Stewart in a statement.<\/p>\n
She says Challenge hopes to attract the experience and innovation of industries beyond mining, including the automotive, battery makers, aerospace, defence and other sectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are confident that we will find a solution to the delivery of electricity to trucks in the complex operating environment of a large surface mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInnovation is the key to decarbonisation, and we expect the Challenge will deliver exciting new concepts that could drive huge long-term benefits for our industry and the environment,\u201d said Rio Tinto Group executive for safety, technical and projects Mark Davies.<\/p>\n
But with large trucks come large challenges. The Charge on Challenge seeks to solve, at least in part, the issue of how to keep the high-capacity batteries needed to power electric haul trucks charged throughout their daily routine of load, travel, dump, return and queue.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrent stationary charging solutions require substantial time to charge a truck, and are unsuitable for charging a truck within the haul cycle (ie while it is being loaded or it is dumping). This would require miners to purchase many more trucks,\u201d writes the foundation on its website.<\/p>\n
One solution it proposes is adapting trolley assist systems which are currently used to propel diesel-electric trucks to power battery-electric trucks during their day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n
But, current systems have certain drawbacks that the foundation says would make it difficult to do so economically at large scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cMine electrification requires considerable integration between mine planning and operations,\u201d says Carlos Mello, ferrous engineering director of Vale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to develop new charging solutions that can be incorporated into our operations in parallel to the development of battery trucks, to ensure we create a truly sustainable electric haulage system in all aspects \u2013 clean, competitive and flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement of the challenge comes just months after fellow Australian mining major Fortescue inked a deal with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) to develop its own battery-electric haul truck<\/a>.<\/p>\n WAE also partnered with mining giant Anglo Amercian and energy Engie in 2020 to develop and test a 290-tonne hydrogen fuel cell haul truck, thought at the time to be the world\u2019s largest electric dump truck<\/a>.<\/p>\n The challenge is accepting applications from potential participants from next Tuesday, 18 May.<\/p>\n Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven<\/a>, sister site of Renew Economy<\/a>. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model 3 and has it available for hire on evee.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/thedriven.io<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thedriven.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/cRfxcZR1_400x400.jpg\")
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