The Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2023 casts a spotlight on diverging trends in the decarbonisation of mining. While battery and electric technologies are dominating the industry’s efforts to phase out fossil fuels, a small but determined group of insiders believe hydrogen is the way to go.

Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, former chief executive and current non-executive chairman of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), created a media splash in 2021 when he announced plans to generate hydrogen from renewable energy (so-called ‘green hydrogen’) and use it to power his iron ore empire in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The Future Fleets Report (FFR) features insights from representatives of Hitachi and Caterpillar, who also outline their companies’ commitment to hydrogen technology. Caterpillar, in particular, pointed out that its modern engines could run on a 5-10% hydrogen blend, with hundreds of thousands of operating hours on some machines using up to 60% hydrogen.

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