WGC Analyzes Gold Industry’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profile

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The World Gold Council (WGC) has published a new report titled ‘Gold and Climate Change: The Energy Transition’. It analyzes the opportunities for gold mining sector to decarbonise its power sources, which in turn may help to reduce its emissions.

According to WGC, gold mining operations account for almost 99% of the greenhouse gas emissions of the gold sector. Nearly 75% of those emissions are connected with the generation and consumption of electricity. The sector’s efforts to reduce emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets would therefore depend a lot on its capacity to change how it sources and uses power and fuels.

The report states that the emissions intensity of power used in gold production is estimated to fall by 35% by 2030. The fall is mainly on account of growth in decarbonisation of grid-sourced electricity, increased replacement of direct site-generated electricity from fossil fuels and reduction in production from high emission mines.

Upon successful execution of current plans to transition to lower carbon power sources over the next decade, the gold mining power emissions are likely to reduce by at least 9% by 2030. The industry is still in the early stages of change, it noted.

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