{"id":1140309,"date":"2019-09-25T10:52:30","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1002834"},"modified":"2019-09-25T10:52:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:52:30","slug":"rio-tinto-strikes-deal-with-chinese-customers-to-cut-steel-making-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1140309","title":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto strikes deal with Chinese customers to cut steel-making emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The world\u2019s No. 2 producer of iron ore, Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO), has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.riotinto.com\/media\/media-releases-237_27792.aspx\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">inked a preliminary deal<\/a> with two Chinese partners to develop new ways to cut carbon emissions along the steelmaking supply chain amid increasing pressure from stakeholders to make mining a more environmentally-friendly activity.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rio said it will work with China&#8217;s largest steel producer, Baowu Steel Group, and Tsinghua University to address the steel industry&#8217;s carbon footprint and curb its \u201cscope 3\u201d emissions \u2013 those made by its customers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Rio will work with China&#8217;s largest steel producer \u2014 Baowu Steel Group\u2014, and Tsinghua University on curbing the steel industry carbon footprint as well as its own \u201cscope 3\u201d emissions \u2013 those made by customers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe materials we produce have an important role to play in the transition to a low carbon future and we are committed to partnering with our customers and others to find the most sustainable ways to produce, process and market them,\u201d chief executive Jean-S\u00e9bastien Jacques <a href=\"https:\/\/www.riotinto.com\/media\/media-releases-237_27792.aspx\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"told a steel conference on Wednesday (opens in a new tab)\">told a steel conference on Wednesday<\/a> in Qingdao, China.<\/p>\n<p>In March, the Anglo-Australian&nbsp;miner<br \/>\nrejected proposals to set scope 3 emissions targets from its customers, saying<br \/>\nthey were primarily caused by its customers over which it had \u201cvery limited control\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Rio Tinto\u2019s change of hearts follows a&nbsp;pledge&nbsp;in July by its rival, BHP, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/bhp-earmarks-400-million-to-reduce-emissions-from-its-mines-products\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">spend $400 million over five years<\/a> to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations and mined commodities.<\/p>\n<p>It also follows Australia\u2019s Prime<br \/>\nMinister\u2019s challenge to China to do more to cut its emissions. <\/p>\n<p>Asked if the move was a business decision or was made based on other considerations, Jacques said it was all about business. \u201cIt&#8217;s nothing more than that. We want to achieve the best supply chain for the steel industry. It&#8217;s not about ideology,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Highly polluting steel<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The production of steel is one of<br \/>\nthe largest sources of carbon emissions, responsible for between 7% and 9% of the<br \/>\nworld\u2019s carbon emissions, Rio said.<\/p>\n<p>The traditional method of making<br \/>\niron and steel by smelting raw materials at extremely high temperatures has not<br \/>\nchanged much in more than 150 years. Large blast furnaces rely on metallurgical<br \/>\ncoal to reduce iron ore into liquid metal, which is refined into steel.<\/p>\n<p>The company noted the<br \/>\npartnership&nbsp;will also look at emissions from distribution, an area where emissions<br \/>\ncan be quickly reduced by changing from ships using bunker fuel \u2013 heavy,<br \/>\ncarbon-intensive oil \u2013 to natural gas.<\/p>\n<p>Rio has reported that its scope 3 emissions, most of<br \/>\nthem from steel making, totalled 536 million tonnes of carbon dioxide<br \/>\nequivalent gases last year compared to 28.6 million tonnes across scope 1 and<br \/>\n2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Partnership with China Baowu Steel Group and Tsinghua University seeks to develop new ways to cut carbon emissions along the steelmaking supply chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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