Vale and Komatsu team with Cummins to trial haul trucks with ethanol and diesel mixture

In Brazil, Vale and Komatsu have signed a pioneering agreement to develop and test, in partnership with Cummins, Dual Fuel haul trucks, powered by a mixture of ethanol and diesel. They will be the world’s first trucks of their size, with payloads of 230 to 290 tons, to run on ethanol, in a joint investment in research and development that demonstrates the commitment of all three companies to advancing sustainability in the mining industry.

The program is a recognition of the necessity to reduce carbon emissions in mining operations. Its goals is to convert existing diesel engines in haul trucks to run on a mix of ethanol and diesel, thus making it considerably more sustainable. The retrofitted trucks will be capable of using up to 70% ethanol and reducing direct CO2 emissions by up to 70%.

Over the next two years, the project is anticipated to include the development, testing and implementation of ethanol-diesel engines manufactured by Cummins. Luke Mosier, Mining Product Planning & Strategy Manager at Cummins, highlighted: “Komatsu and Vale are two organizations that share Cummins’ commitment to innovation and accelerating carbon footprint reductions. It will be fantastic to contribute our internal combustion engine expertise on this project that will see further advancement of future ready technology.”

Diesel emissions from mine operations account for 15% of Vale’s direct CO2 emissions. Among mine equipment, the haul truck is the biggest consumer of diesel and therefore the biggest emitter. The decision to develop an ethanol-based solution is driven by its availability within existing supplier networks and high adoption rate in Brazil.