May 22 2012
The international mining industry is a complex mix of diverse companies using several basic approaches of extracting and processing natural resources to supply both the energy and raw material needs of the modern world. These are critical times for the mining industry, with ever-increasing pressure from governments, customers, and other stakeholders to operate in a sustainable manner.
The rising demand for mineral resources, driven by emerging markets, highlights the fact that maintaining the levels of needed supply will be a significant challenge in the future and energy will become increasingly more important for the bottom line, shareholder value, and license to operate.
Many of the key industry players in the mining arena have developed energy saving strategies and are investing directly into renewable energy infrastructure. For the most part, this is an outgrowth of the industry-wide realization that emerging technologies and strategies exist to better manage energy consumption, costs, supply, and risks from international and national regulations. In addition, several companies have already included revenue streams from carbon credits and carbon trading as a vehicle to augment revenue streams, while, at the same time, addressing climate change regulations and/or taxes.
This Pike Research report provides a detailed examination of energy consumption dynamics in the global mining industry, along with an analysis of the market opportunity for greater utilization of renewable energy. The study assesses the market drivers and policy issues that are influencing mining companies' increasing interest in renewable energy, along with a review of the technology issues associated with each option. The strategies of key industry players are profiled in depth and market forecasts through 2020 are provided for renewable energy investment in the sector.