Nuclear power needed for net zero: mining sector

Demand for coal is likely to increase, and mining experts say Australia should look at nuclear power as part of its transition to net zero.

Diversification is the key to Australia’s future energy mix, with nuclear power very much on the table, a national meeting of the mining industry has been told.

Speaking at a panel forum in Canberra convened by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), Vimy Resources CEO Mike Young said while some might liken Australia’s future energy options to a choice between having the beef pie or chicken parmigiana at a bistro, “everything should be considered”, including renewables, coal, gas, hydrogen and nuclear power.

Lenka Kollar, co-founder of sustainability collective Helixos, said in the past five years there had been an “astounding” shift in support for nuclear energy, even from some environmental groups, because there was an increasing recognition of the role nuclear would play in any transition to a net zero emissions scenario.

The UAE, Belarus, Turkey and Bangladesh had all embraced nuclear power over the past decade, and the advent of small module reactors could make nuclear a more attractive option for Australia, Ms Kollar said.

Industry analyst Mark Gresswell said global demand for electricity would boom over the next 20 years as Asia rose to a more dominant position in the global economy.

Just two years ago the International Energy Agency (IEA) was predicting electricity demand would surge 58 per cent by 2040, and now it was projecting that figure to be 110 per cent, Mr Gresswell said.

Coal will play a diminishing role in global energy over coming decades, but our exports will continue to grow this decade, according to the Minierals Council of Australia.

While the global demand for coal to power that electricity is expected to fall by around 90 per cent by 2050, according to the IEA, the MCA’s latest Commodities Outlook paints a rosier picture for the industry in the short term, predicting Australia’s thermal coal exports will increase 23 per cent by 2030.

The Outlook forecasts a modest 8 per cent increase in demand for Australian iron ore by 2030, while lithium is set to boom by 368 per cent over the same period, thanks to an expanding global appetite for more battery storage and electric vehicles.

Ms Kollar said while most people were aware lithium was used in devices like mobile phones, electric vehicles and battery storage “has already displaced consumer electronics as the largest consumer of lithium”.

Panellist Samantha McCulloch from the IEA said the global market for minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel “could be equivalent to coal today” by the 2040s.

Australian lithium exports were worth $1.1 billion in 2020, but the 368 per cent project growth could even be an underestimate, the MCA noted in the Outlook report.

“This projection is based on an assessment of car manufacturers’ current plans to convert to electric vehicle production. If these plans accelerate, potentially due to higher consumer demand and more government incentives to develop electric vehicles, the outlook for world lithium consumption could be considerably higher,” the report stated.

Originally published as Nuclear power needed for net zero: mining sector