Reducing emissions, energy and water consumption.
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Case Study 5: Diesel fuel emissions - integrated mining and
production
Context
PIP’s client was a fully integrated facility,
with all production steps from mining through to production
and distribution of €nished product. Diesel fuel costs in
the distribution process were seen as an area for potential
emissions reductions and associated savings.
Our client consumed in excess of 15 million litres of diesel
fuel per year in its operations.
Road conditions at mining sites have an impact on the amount
of diesel consumed. High rolling resistance, excessive dust,
too many stoppages, steep gradients and overall distance traveled
all cause fuel consumption to rise.
Furthermore, the client used a purchase card system (with
more than 140 cards issued to personnel) in which card usage
policies were poorly de€ned, and usage patterns and fuel consumption
poorly tracked.
Road network improvement approach
PIP focused on improving conditions on the road network at
the client site. The effort included:
• Improved super elevation and optimised gradients
• Reduction/elimination of stoppages
• Reduction of sharp corners
• Enhanced dust suppression
• Decreased rolling resistance
• Reduced overall travel distance.
Result
CO2 emissions were signi€cantly reduced, while diesel fuel
consumption rates (litres per hour) were reduced by between
6% and 9% depending upon equipment type. Additional non-fuel
bene€ts included:
- Reduced tyre wear and air €lter replacement frequency
- Reduced incidental truck damage
- Improved engine operating conditions overall.
Fuel card control approach
PIP focused on implementing simple processes, controls and
accountability by:
- Developing fuel card issuance and usage policy
- Developing card usage tracking tools
- Developing fuel consumption tracking tools
- Communicating policies and ensuring policy adherence
was measured in performance reviews.
Result
Through better control of card issuance and use, a further
2% reduction in diesel fuel consumption was attained (with
a savings of ~$350k to the client’s bottom line). Better
tracking tools helped identify a fuel rebate increase of ~$425k.
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