The push to lower emissions from Australia's mining industry is seeing the emergence of new technologies. And the race is on to find the best solution, with diesel-powered trucks being converted to run on electric batteries and hydrogen.
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00:00It's big, green and fully electric.
00:09This truck used to guzzle 64 litres of diesel an hour.
00:13Its electric conversion cost $2.5 million.
00:17And it's exactly the same as though it's a Tesla, except instead of having one of them,
00:22you've got six of them.
00:24Electrical engineer Clayton Franklin has worked with some of the mining industry's giants,
00:29including billionaire Andrew Forrest's Fortescue, which this month began trialling a hydrogen-powered
00:34truck in the Pilbara.
00:37It's all part of the push towards cutting emissions by the end of the decade.
00:41You burn through, for this truck, $650,000, $700,000 worth of fuel a year.
00:48And how long does it take to charge that 777 over there?
00:51So we can charge 777 in less than 50 minutes.
00:54And this team is betting it's electric that will replace the diesel machines that form
00:58the backbone of the mining industry.
01:01Knowing that there's a step change needed, so yeah, we're hoping that a greener planet
01:06with greener trucks and we'll still be there making green truck bodies.
01:10Clean, green, cheaper.
01:12A potentially cheaper option for a big money industry.
01:16Tara DeLandgraft, ABC News, Kalgoorlie.