Gold, the metal of lowest emissions!
WGC publishes ‘Gold and climate change: An introduction’
According to the report published by the World Gold Council (WGC) in the month of June end, Gold is highly valuable. When analysed on a ‘per US$ value’ basis, gold has the amongst the lowest emissions intensity of all metals and mined products.
A wide range of investors now own gold and there is a growing need to understand how this might impact the
carbon footprint of mainstream portfolios. At the broadest level, an analysis of gold mining’s emission levels in relation to its contribution to global GDP, suggests the industry’s carbon footprint per US$ is similar to that of the overall global economy. And, although in its early stages, recent work looking at gold and equity investments suggests adding gold to a mainstream portfolio can, over time, reduce its overall carbon footprint.
Responsible gold mining companies take seriously their commitment to meet international standards, including
reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Importantly, action is already being taken by companies to address many of the risks associated with climate change. World Gold Council Member companies are seeking to reduce their carbon footprint through improvements in energy efficiency and, where possible, transition to low carbon energy sources.
Member initiatives vary greatly in type and scale, but they share common goals. These projects include a solar plant that will transform a mine’s power consumption in Burkina Faso, mining company ventures to source hydro-electric power in Brazil and the Kyrgyz Republic, energy efficiency via award-winning air control automation in South Africa, similarly lauded energy savings from optimised ventilation systems in Canada, and the world’s first all-electric underground gold mine.
In addition to industry steps to reduce GHG emissions, gold itself may play an important role in technologies that help facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy. Of particular relevance in the context of mitigating climate change, gold in a nano particulate form has considerable potential in a range of applications that can help reduce GHG emissions. New technologies of note include: 1: nano structured gold catalysts to help convert CO2 into useful fuels, 2: incorporating gold nano materials to enhance hydrogen fuel cell performance, 3: the inclusion of gold to improve photovoltaics and how the sun’s energy is captured and utilised.
We believe it important to achieve a better understanding of the scale and nature of gold’s climate change impacts and our early stage findings on the GHG emissions of newly mined gold have provided solid foundation for future work. Our initial findings confirm that, whilst there is limited published data on gold’s global carbon footprint, total GHG emissions from newly-mined gold are significantly lower than those from other major metals and mined products.
When analysed on a ‘per US$ value’ basis, gold has amongst the lowest emissions intensity of all metals and mined products. Furthermore, recent research into how an investment in gold may potentially help reduce the carbon footprint of an investor’s portfolio opens up a promising new area of study worthy of closer examination.
