According to Nouveau Monde, the first focus area of the plan involves taking responsibility for the 2,151 tonnes of CO2 equivalent it has emitted since its inception in 2012 and taking concrete actions to neutralize its climate impact.
The climate plan
The miner said it will offset historical emissions by tapping into carbon credits from certified Québec projects related to landfill gas capture and combustion with energy recovery; production of renewable energy from residual forest biomass; change in fuel selection, from fossils to bioenergy; and energy conservation.
In terms of the development of the climate plan itself, the firm said that it is now completing a monitoring proposal consisting of the ongoing recording of GHG-related data, which will be the basis for accurate emissions quantification and reporting.
Nouveau Monde is enrolling GHG management solutions company NEL-i to identify nature-based carbon sequestration projects
“Thel GHG inventory is structured to incorporate emissions at the mine in Saint-Michel-des-Saints and at the value-added LiB Anode Materials Plant in Bécancour. All sources of direct emissions (scope 1) and indirect emissions (scope 3) occurring on-site during the site-preparation and construction phase, the operation and the decommissioning, as well as the indirect emissions from energy usage (scope 2), are incorporated into the company’s assessment,” the media brief states. “The fraction of forest carbon that is transferred to the atmosphere from necessary tree removal is also accounted for, reported separately, and will also be compensated.”
Besides accounting for and reporting these emissions, Nouveau Monde said it is enrolling GHG management solutions company NEL-i to identify nature-based carbon sequestration projects and determine their scope of applicability, analyze their profitability, and then develop them.
The Canadian firm pointed out that it is also planning to invest in the research and development of effective carbon mineral storage solutions, through a “circular economy” approach.
Not only in Canada
In the partnership realm, Nouveau said it will make an initial $50,000 commitment to NEL-i’s large-scale forest carbon stock enhancement project in Québec, which incorporates initiatives for conservation, improvement of harvesting and reforestation practices across the province, as well as possible reinvestments to restore degraded lands in tropical areas in the Caribbean. The goal is to restore and put back into sustainable production one hectare of land for each hectare of land conserved in Québec.
Since the initial amount for the latter project will be used to conduct a technical-economic feasibility study and the preliminary design phase, Nouveau Monde said that if positive results are reported, the idea is to up its investment by an additional $200,000 over 2 years for the commissioning of the project.
“With approvals and the ministerial decree now in hand, it is time to deploy resources to put our vision of producing the cleanest and greenest graphite-based products possible, into concrete, measurable actions,” Eric Desaulniers, the miner’s president and CEO, said in the statement. “While building the carbon-neutral mining and battery anode material producer of the future, based in Québec, Canada, we are protecting our ecosystem and creating a legacy that will positively impact our communities or clients, and the world at large.”
