The mining industry is vital for producing the inputs needed to drive global GDP growth and the energy transition. Chile, where much of the world’s known mineral resources are located, has 43% of all copper and gold mines in Latin America. As one might guess, mining significantly contributes to Chile’s GDP.
The Mining Industry Has a Diesel Problem
Today, the mining sector relies heavily on diesel fuel, emitting a significant portion of the world’s CO2 emissions. 80% or more of the CO2 emissions from drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and conveying materials come from burning diesel fuel.
To reduce global CO2 emissions, regulators, investors, and customers are pressuring the mining sector to decarbonize. There are several ways to replace diesel, but most have drawbacks. One pathway is to electrify hauling trucks. This, however, requires significant investment, and it’s unclear if the electric equipment can withstand the harsh mining conditions.
Another option is to increase the fuel efficiency of existing diesel engines. While relatively straightforward in concept, this would require a technology breakthrough, because diesel engines already operate near efficiency limits.
A third pathway is to switch from diesel fuel to hydrogen. This also requires significant capex investments and includes using many new, unproven, technologies. Using synthetic diesel is a possibility, too. Conceptually, this makes sense, but synthetic diesel has been a challenge to scale and, today, is very expensive.
ClearFlame’s Game-Changing Technology
While methanol engines exist today, they are spark (gasoline type) engines with lower torque and efficiency performance. For heavy-duty segments like mining, diesel engine performance is absolutely required, so methanol has historically not been viewed as a viable pathway.
This is why we are so excited about ClearFlame’s game-changing proprietary technology. Originally invented at Stanford University, ClearFlame’s technology enables diesel engines to run on methanol (or ethanol) without any performance hits. To our knowledge, ClearFlame is the only company able to get methanol or ethanol to operate in diesel engines with the same performance.
Replacing Diesel with Methanol to Decarbonize Mining
There are many reasons to be excited about a methanol pathway to replace diesel fuel to decarbonize mining. Methanol, like hydrogen, is an energy carrier. As a result, there are many ways to create methanol, with some containing less carbon than others. This provides valuable flexibility, an important factor because not all geographies have the same access to inputs. For example, one mining region might start with natural gas-derived methanol (gray methanol) and then evolve toward renewable electricity and renewable CO2-derived methanol (e-methanol) over time. Another region might go straight to biomass-derived ethanol (bio-methanol).
With methanol, mining companies can decarbonize operations, while creating the methanol in ways that suit the local dynamic. Ultimately, completely decarbonizing the mining operation gets delegated not to equipment selection but to an evolution of the fuel supply chain — a much more manageable approach.
There are other benefits to a ClearFlame methanol pathway. The same equipment can be used. It’s less expensive than diesel fuel on an equivalent energy basis, and it significantly lowers harmful emissions to reduce smog and improve public health in the area. Compared to diesel, methanol reduces nitrogen emissions by 60% and eliminates sulfur emissions and particulate matter emissions completely.
ClearFlame has made great strides in commercializing its solution in the US with long-haul trucking. The company is already working with the largest, most influential trucking fleets across North America. To scale, ClearFlame can harness the capabilities of the existing diesel engine industry: ~80% of the engine remains exactly the same. Unlike a new engine design that requires new manufacturing, a new service industry, and significant real-world performance questions, ClearFlame’s solution is very familiar to the diesel engine industry. As such, the existing industry is an efficient and motivated network ClearFlame can leverage to scale.
WIND Ventures is excited to support ClearFlame and help them enter Latin America to create an “unfair” advantage in decarbonizing the difficult mining sector.