The Mining and Technology Industries as Catalysts for Sustainable Energy Development

Katundu Imasiku and Valerie M. Thomas
Additional contact information
Katundu Imasiku: African Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development, University of Rwanda, Kigali 4285, Rwanda
Valerie M. Thomas: School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-13

Abstract: The potential for mining companies to contribute to sustainable energy development is characterized in terms of opportunities for energy efficiency and support of electricity access in mining-intensive developing countries. Through a case study of the Central African Copperbelt countries of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, energy efficiency opportunities in copper operations and environmental impact of metal extraction are evaluated qualitatively, characterized, and quantified using principles of industrial ecology, life cycle assessment, and engineering economics. In these countries the mining sector is the greatest consumer of electricity, accounting for about 53.6% in the region. Energy efficiency improvements in the refinery processes is shown to have a factor of two improvement potential. Further, four strategies are identified by which the mining and technology industries can enhance sustainable electricity generation capacity: energy efficiency; use of solar and other renewable resources; share expertise from the mining and technology industries within the region; and take advantage of the abundant cobalt and other raw materials to initiate value-added manufacturing.

Keywords: copper; cobalt; mining; sustainable energy development; engineering economics; multi-national enterprises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10410/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10410/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10410-:d:461159

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().