Rio Tinto conducts 1st renewable diesel trial across iron-ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia

Photo: Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto announced Feb. 26 that renewable diesel has helped fuel its Pilbara iron-ore operations for the first time, with the completion of a successful trial of biofuel across its network of Western Australian ports, railways and mines.

The trial, the first of its kind for Rio Tinto in Australia, was conducted in partnership with leading global renewable diesel producer Neste and Australian fuel supplier Viva Energy.

Rio Tinto said the trial has provided it with a greater understanding of how renewable diesel could be integrated across its Pilbara operations.

Neste allocated 10 million liters (2.64 million gallons) of renewable diesel produced from used cooking oil for the trial.

The fuel was shipped from Singapore to Rio Tinto’s Parker Point fuel terminal in Dampier by Viva Energy and blended portside with fossil diesel to create a mix with about 20 percent renewable diesel.

It was then distributed across Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron-ore operations for use in rail, marine, blasting, haul trucks, surface-mining equipment and light vehicles.

The four-week trial this January and February provided an understanding of how renewable diesel use could be scaled up across Rio Tinto’s Australian operations in the future, giving key insights into the bulk renewable diesel supply chain, importation and blending processes.

It also reduced Rio Tinto’s scope 1 emissions by about 27,000 metric tons of direct greenhouse-gas emissions, which is as much as the tailpipe emissions from 6,300 cars for a year.

“Diesel makes up about 70 percent of the total carbon emissions from our Pilbara iron-ore operations,” said Richard Cohen, Rio Tinto’s managing director of rail, port and core services. “While electrification is the ultimate longer-term solution for repowering the majority of our fleet, we’re also exploring biofuels as a complementary and nearer-term solution. Through this trial with Neste and Viva Energy, we’ve gained valuable insights into how renewable diesel can help bridge the gap to widespread electrification as well as for circumstances where electrification may not be suitable.”

Ee Pin Lee, Neste’s head of commercial renewable products in the Asia-Pacific region, added, “Neste MY Renewable Diesel is a readily available solution for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Building on the successful partnership in the U.S., the agreement in Australia reinforces our commitment to support our customers and demonstrates the capabilities of renewable diesel across a wide range of applications. This milestone signifies the continuous collaboration with Rio Tinto and we look forward to further expanding our cooperation.”

Lachlan Pfeiffer, Viva Energy’s chief strategy officer, said, “Drop-in biofuels like renewable diesel are important tools in the energy transition—they help companies reduce emissions without the cost of replacing equipment and infrastructure. This trial effectively demonstrated the critical role renewable diesel is going to play in reducing the carbon footprint of Australia’s heavy industry. Viva Energy is working alongside key partners like Rio Tinto to help them to identify the right low-carbon solution to meet their specific business needs.”

Rio Tinto said it is actively exploring the potential of biofuels as part of its ongoing efforts to achieve its scope 1 and 2 emissions-reduction targets of 50 percent by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

This trial builds on the successful transition at the company’s Boron and Kennecott operations in the U.S., where 11 percent of its total global fossil-diesel consumption has been replaced with renewable diesel.

Rio Tinto is also developing a Pongamia seed farm in North Queensland as part of a biofuels pilot to contribute to the growth of the Australian biofuels industry.

Sustainability certification for this trial was provided by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification System GmbH according to Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) requirements, using a mass-balance approach.

The mass-balance approach is a chain-of-custody model that tracks and guarantees the amount and sustainability characteristics of circular materials such as used cooking oil through the renewable diesel value chain.