Search

Solar energy technologies are a promising option to lower the greenhouse gas emissions of energy generation. Using solar technologies in energy-intensive industries located in arid climate zones is an attractive alternative for that purpose. In this work, the environmental benefit of integrating solar energy in the Chilean copper industry is explored in respect of global warming potential (GWP). A new life cycle assessment model for copper cathodes production in Chile and the integration of three solar technologies was developed. The GWP of the production of copper cathodes was calculated considering local representative conditions for climate, energy mix, and energy demand of the industry. It was computed at 6.0 tCO 2eq /t Cu 2 for a pyrometallurgical process (P-Cu) and 4.9 tCO 2eq /t Cu for a hydrometallurgical process (H-Cu). Further contributions of this paper are the consideration of the decline in ore grade (i.e. copper content in the mineral) and the interconnection of Chile's two main power grids as sensitivities to the baseline. The interconnection of the power grids causes a GWP-reduction of 22% for P-Cu and 37% for H-Cu. In parallel, the expected lower ore grade by 2020 would increase the GWP of copper production by 10% for P-Cu and 4% for H-Cu. If the electricity that is currently taken from the grid is exclusively fed by solar technologies, the reduction on the GWP of copper production would be up to 63% and 76% for P-Cu and H-Cu processes. These numbers do not represent the upper bound for the reduction on the GWP of copper production that can be achieved with solar technologies because the substitution of on-site fossil fuel combustion with solar energy is another interesting mitigation option, which was not considered in this study. In order to achieve even less carbon-intensive production processes, an improved understanding of the copper's industry energy flows and profiles is needed. This would allow to assess the integration of further solar energy technologies and conceive the future of solar copper mining . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy systems are now accepted to be mandatory for climate change mitigation. These systems require a higher material supply than conventional ones. Particularly, they require more copper. The production of this metal, however, is intensive in energy consumption and emissions. Therefore, renewable energy systems must be used to improve the environmental performance of copper production. We cover the current state of research and develop recommendations for the design of renewable energy systems for copper production. To complement our analysis, we also consider studies from other industries and regional energy systems. We provide six recommendations for future modeling: (a) current energy demand models for copper production are overly simplistic and need to be enhanced for planning with high levels of renewable technologies; (b) multi-vector systems (electricity, heat, and fuels) need to be explicitly modeled to capture the readily available flexibility of the system; (c) copper production is done in arid regions, where water supply is energy-intensive, then, water management should be integrated in the overall design of the energy system; (d) there is operational flexibility in existing copper plants, which needs to be better understood and assessed; (e) the design of future copper mines should adapt to the dynamics of available renewable energy sources; and (f) life cycle impacts of the components of the system need to be explicitly minimized in the optimization models. Researchers and decision-makers from the copper and energy sector will benefit from this comprehensive review and these recommendations. We hope it will accelerate the deployment of renewables, particularly in the copper industry. • Copper is required to build energy systems of the future. • Smart integration of renewables can lower the cost of cleaner copper production. • We provide six recommendations to model these systems. • Further efforts are required in the modeling of energy demand and flexibility. • Following these recommendations will enable cleaner and cheaper designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]