The Impact of The Mining Industry on Air Pollution
Mining is one of the most important sectors that constitutes a significant portion of the world economy. Unfortunately, due to the nature of its production stage environmental problems arise. One of the critical problems that affects the health of the public living around those sites is air pollution. Pollutants that are released during the production cycle are the main reason of this health problem. It is possible to minimize its contribution to the climate change with new clean energy models. The mining industry plays a key role in the production of metals and minerals required for the transition to these energy models. This sector has a high contribution to the net zero target and needs to handle economic development and environmental protection all together.
While climate change threatens the ecological balance, air pollution is the main reason of 7 million premature deaths every year (WHO, 2021). In order to leave a livable environment for future generations, we need to minimize our environmental footprint. As the August 2021 IPCC report makes clear, it is important to de-carbonize the global economy as quickly as possible to address these issues. This requires a new transformation. The decision to leave out coal at COP26 made it mandatory for countries to turn to use clean energy types (United Nations Climate Change, 2021). This means that other metals and minerals (Lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel, etc.) will be used instead of coal as an energy source. By 2040, mineral requirements for clean energy technologies are expected to quadruple (URL 1). In fact, this situation will not reduce the development of the mining sector with its current decision to exit coal, but on the contrary, it will ensure that its economic growth is greater than other sectors.
The economic models that change according to the conditions of the new world also bring about changes in trade. The European Union aims to be climate neutral by 2050, that is, to zero its net greenhouse gas emissions (European Commision , 2020). In this direction it has developed the Border Carbon Adaptation Mechanism in order to include other countries in the fight against climate change. With the simplest definition, this system can be understood as the extension of the intra-EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), outside the EU. Since 2005, the EU ETS has been concerned with regulating emissions from factories and power plants in energy and carbon-intensive sectors such as electricity, paper, cement, iron and steel, petroleum products, chemical products and air transport (Aşıcı, 2021). Since the mining industry is also affected by this system, investors need to de-carbonize their facilities as soon as possible. According to a data source from 2020, mineral exports in Turkey meet 2.53% of general exports (URL 2). The fact that Turkey is rich in resources enables the mining industry to develop rapidly and have an important share in exports. In order to turn this situation into an advantage, it is necessary to reduce or even not emit greenhouse gases in the production cycle.
One of the most important points in global trade nowadays is the environmental and social performance of enterprises. Minimizing the environmental impacts of mining activities is necessary to contribute to sustainable development and to solve various environmental and social challenges that harm local communities and disrupt supply. Thus, one of the steps that companies should take is to manage the air quality in the mine sites.
From the discovery of an ore formation to the abandonment of the site, the mining process takes place in 5 basic stages. These are prospecting, exploration, development, production and rehabilitation (Beşir, 2015). In its most general form, mining activities are carried out in two ways, underground and above-ground. Particularly, Particulate Matters (PMs) and Methane (CH4) gas emissions that occur in open and underground mining constitute a large part of the air pollution in mining areas. In addition to the dust as a result of the blasting activity in surface mining, some gases are also emitted into the atmosphere as a result of the chemical reaction occurs due to the use of explosive on the sites. These are CO2, H2O, N2, CO, NOx and SO2 (Beşir, 2015).
Gases released during mining activities mostly have negative impacts on the health of workers in the mining site . Occupational diseases caused by the exposure to respiratory pollutants are among the most common occupational diseases in Turkey. It is estimated that people working in the mining industry are more likely to get occupational diseases due to the pollutants they are exposed to (Taner & Özdemir, 2012). In line with the goal of zero harm for occupational health, it is important to determine elements that may cause air pollution in production. In order to protect workers from certain exposure to dust, it is necessary to identify and analyze risks by making as many measurements as possible. Today, it is easy to monitor air quality levels at every stage of production, thanks to advancing sensor technology. It is possible to make the working and environmental conditions of the enterprises healthy and safe by examining the environmental effects of mining activities with cloud-backed continuous measurement systems.
It is possible to reduce the factors that cause air pollution in the mining sector to a certain acceptable level. Therefore continuous measurement should be utilized depending on the emission source, PM releases/factors should be determined according to the source, and dust reduction techniques should be applied depending on the type of the activity. Thus, the regions around the enterprise that are also affected by these exposures, can be prevented (Duran, Erdem, & Doğan, 2021). It is important to evaluate the limit values specified in the Regulation on Control of Industrial Air Pollution and to plan preventive/reducing measures for negative effects.
The mining industry has an important responsibility in the transition to clean energy. It has been and will continue to be in many areas of our lives and needs to be redesigned to be compatible with Paris Agreement. For the production and processing of environmentally friendly and sustainable mineral resources, the prevention of air pollution has a great importance both in terms of environmental health, the health of local communities and competitiveness in trade. In trade agreements, besides the quality of the product, the environmental effects of the operators during production are also taken into account. In today’s world, it is possible to manage air quality with minimum cost thanks to advancing sensor technology, businesses are expected to have environmentally friendly production processes.
Author: Ayşe Güleç
References
Aşıcı, A. A. (2021). The European Union’s Border Carbon Adaptation Mechanism and the Turkish Economy. Istanbul Policy Center.
Beşir, A. Ç. (2015). Evaluation of Particulate Matter Emission Factors Used in Surface Mining Within Turkey And International Applications.
Duran, Z., Erdem, B., & Doğan, T. (2021). Particulate Matter Release in Open Mines: A Literature Search. Journal of Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, 29(3), s. 450–465.
European Commision. (2020). A European Green Deal.
Istanbul Champer of Industry. (2021). Mining, Stone and Soil Products Industry Sustainability Priorities and Tracking Indicators.
Taner, S., & Özdemir, U. (2012). The Effects of Air Pollution on Workers’ Health In Different Work Places. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 1(4), s. 190–198.
UNEP. (2020). Sustainability Reporting in the Mining Sector.
United Nations Climate Change. (2021). COP26: The Glasgow Climate Pact.
World Health Organization. (2021). WHO Global Air Quality Guides Press Release.
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