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Melting permafrost, carbon units, decarbonization and palladium: COP29 highlights

Nornickel participated in the UN Climate Change Conference with presentations on innovative ESG projects, environmental and climate initiatives.
During the COP29, representatives from more than 100 countries discussed measures to combat the impacts of global warming and proposed solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The 2024 conference took place in Baku from November 11 to 22.

Arctic warming: managing risks

Nornickel operates in the Arctic where warmer temperatures have more visible impacts than in other climate zones. Nornickel Vice President for HSE Stanislav Seleznev makes no secret of the fact that it affects the company’s production processes. Even though today the impact is minimal, it is essential to monitor and predict the ongoing changes to understand their inherent risks.

The main long-term threat to the Norilsk site and the Arctic in general is melting permafrost. Scientists believe that degradation of permafrost landscapes will impact the safety of all structures in the Arctic, primarily miles of power lines and pipelines, roads, and industrial and residential buildings.

Nornickel works with scientists, monitors all relevant research and forecasts, and collects statistics. The company has designed Russia’s largest system for monitoring buildings and structures in permafrost and has been monitoring the tundra soils since 2024 in locations far from urban development. All data is transmitted to the Monitoring Center based in Norilsk.

Carbon units: the new cryptocurrency

The global market for carbon units generated by industrial companies through climate projects is shaping and developing fast. Nornickel is a participant in the national carbon units market looking to expand globally.

The company has already purchased 10 thousand carbon units from RusHydro and is issuing its own carbon units. The project to transfer the main ventilation units (GVU-4, GVU-7) in the Severny Mine to electric heating, implemented at Kola MMC, has been listed in the Russian carbon units registry.

The company sees great potential for generating carbon units from energy efficiency projects. To reduce climate impacts , Nornickel is studying nature and climate projects in regions where it has a presence.
STANISLAV SELEZNEV:

“We want to understand all the benefits of carbon units: ways to purchase, offset, and transfer them. And most importantly, how we can verify these actions, that is, confirm that they are totally legitimate for everyone. This applies both to domestic and international transactions.

With the rest of Russia, Nornickel is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2060. With this target set at federal level, I really can’t see how a particular company could swerve off this course. This goal is entirely feasible and unlocks great opportunities for the business.”
To reduce indirect GHG emissions from energy use and achieve carbon neutrality, the company is upgrading its operations and launching its own electricity generation from solar power in the Trans-Baikal Territory, and monitoring and managing greenhouse gas emissions.

Five enterprises in the Nornickel Group subject to statutory regulation are to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the Ministry of Economic Development. These include MMC Norilsk Nickel, Kola MMC, NTEK, Norilsk Support Complex, and GRK Bystrinskoye. Regulated companies include legal entities whose GHG emissions in the reporting period exceed 150 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent.

Starting from 2024, this limit has been reduced to 50 thousand tons. So, in 2025, the number of regulated companies in the Norilsk Nickel Group will increase to include Norilskgazprom, Norilsktransgaz and Yenisei River Shipping Company. For the first time, they will report their GHG emissions in 2024 to the Ministry of Economic Development.

Tailings storage facilities of concentrators helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

A promising action area for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and consequently minimizing Nornickel’s carbon footprint is mineralization of waste rock from tailings storage facilities. Carbon dioxide removal is a key strategy for fighting global climate change.

Mineralization is one of the most effective methods of carbon sequestration. It is a process by which carbon dioxide reacts chemically with certain rock types and water to form stable carbonate minerals such as calcite/aragonite, dolomite, magnesite and siderite which can store carbon for thousands of years.

The mechanism has great potential for long-term CO2 storage in stable mineral forms, making it attractive for large-scale application.

Nornickel’s tailings dams are uniquely able to absorb greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide. The company has validated the methodology for calculating direct GHG absorption by waste rock in tailings dams, which can be considered natural mineralization.
Nornickel plans to develop artificial and active mineralization in tailings storage facilities, with detailed studies scheduled to start in 2025. These processes have a considerable potential for enabling GHG capture and will further be presented as climate projects.
ANNA PARFENOVA,
Nornickel Deputy Director of Economic Department

“The amount of CO2 absorbed in Nornickel’s tailings storage facility will tentatively account for a significant share of all decarbonization measures designed by the company.

We are looking into accelerated mineralization technologies to achieve higher absorption rates through adding certain reagents or introducing special processes. If successful, Nornickel will classify this method as a climate project and implement it into its operations”.

‘Green’ palladium

Adaptation to climate change is impossible without new technologies. The energy transition creates new prospects for the market of palladium and platinum group metals produced by Nornickel. The demand for these metals is constantly increasing.

Palladium is an important component in modern processors and data storage systems. It can replace gold in data center microchips.
Nornickel seeks to not only supply metal but to also act as a technology partner for its customers in the application of new highly efficient Pb-based materials. For this purpose, the company opened a Palladium Technology Center. Its portfolio currently has about 25 projects. By 2030, the company plans to introduce more than 100 innovative Pb-based materials for technology-intensive industries and green processes.

These include catalysts for electrolytic and fuel cells and membranes for ultra-pure hydrogen production. These processes are currently trialed by Nornickel’s Chinese partners. Their rollout is scheduled for next year.

The company is also working on highly efficient catalysts for sustainable aviation biofuels and finalizing research of palladium chalcogenide applications in photoelectric cells.
DMITRY IZOTOV,
Head of Palladium Technology Centre, Nornickel:

“Our focus is to develop the processes that reflect three key global trends: renewable power generation, digitalization and improved efficiency of conventional technologies, with special attention paid to the sustainability of our solutions and mitigation of their environmental impact.

Our developments include more affordable and sustainable Pb-based conductors, energy-efficient memory types including solutions based on spintronics, and advances in renewable energy and green chemistry.

We develop innovative solutions that improve process efficiency, reduce costs and minimize our carbon footprint. Our approach is based on making these solutions accessible through licensing. This way, we facilitate the development of sustainable industry and green and energy-efficient technologies.”
Since 2021, Nornickel has been showing its climate initiatives in public reporting describing measures to fight climate change, manage risks and adapt to climate change.
Photos by Nornickel

December, 2024
2024-12-26 13:27 Governance Russia Biodiversity