Highlights

Due to the recent announcement by the Chinese President Xi Jinping to become carbon neutral by 2060, China is facing a major upheaval. Because in China, power generation is the largest consumer of coal and remains a major future source of energy. In the upcoming age of renewable energies and climate protection, the transition to a more sustainable energy supply ...

The decision to phase out coal in Germany – and not only there –with the corresponding loss of added value and jobs in coal production and use raises the question of how sufficient new employment stimuli can be created for the regions of the coal industry in the post-coal-mining era. The federal government’s answer is the billions set aside by the ...

In practice bulk material transfer chutes for belt conveyors often cause problems. Depending on the bulk material to be conveyed, the chutes are often subject to severe wear, which minimizes the durability of the chutes and expensive wear protection material is often replaced at very short intervals. The wear also relates to the belt conveyor downstream of the chute. If ...

The coal phase-out in Germany by 2038 constitutes a major challenge for regions and industries. Technologies, energy sources and labor markets are changing fundamentally. But there are also opportunities for local actors that are worth to be explored. Even old mines could contribute to the success of the transition of energy production. The German Parliament installed the Fraunhofer Institute for ...

Geothermal energy can play an important role in the decarbonization of the German energy system. In order to make the great potential of geothermal energy in the crystalline basement economically viable, measures are taken to enhance existing permeable structures. However, a prerequisite for the public acceptance of such Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) is the minimization of possible induced seismicity. Their ...

By late 2020 a total of 77 deep geothermal wells had been drilled within the territory of Austria, representing a cumulative length of some 135 km. About two thirds of this figure, both in terms of number and cumulative length, comprised boreholes sunk in sedimentary basins, while the remainder were drilled in the Eastern Alpine units and consisted exclusively of ...

Natural gas is besides from crude oil and coal one of the most important energy resources. However, during the depletion of a reservoir, the occurrence of liquids, e. g., water, condensates, is a well known phenomenon worldwide. Depending on the gas composition and the physical boundary conditions (pressure, temperature), water and/or condensate can precipitate out of the gas stream as the ...

Geothermy is a raw materials production process and therefore it has a close association with mining law, unless the activity in question is strictly property related. However, even in this latter case mining regulations will take effect if the drilling extends to a depth of more than 100 m. A general operating plan is not in fact required in this ...

At the Annual Conference of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) in February 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona/USA, the debate on the term “Social Licence to Operate” was a focus. The title of the keynote session of the annual conference was: “The Executive’s Role in Tailings Management: Preserving our Social Licence to Operate”. In view of the recent accidents ...

Today, every company involved in raw material extraction strives to work efficiently and effectively. In the article “Smart Mining – Today and Tomorrow” in this issue, smart mining and its implications have already been described and discussed in detail. The central challenge, according to one of the key statements of that article, is the actual implementation of what is understood by Smart ...