At BHP, our medium-term target is to reduce operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 30 per cent from FY2020 levels by FY2030. To achieve this, teams are innovating and collaborating to act now on planned emissions reduction projects. 

Head of Strategic Services, Gabrielle Sycamore, is helping to lead the charge towards decarbonisation across our operations in Australia. 

We sat down with Gabby to learn about her role and hear how her team is working to reduce operational GHG emissions for the company. 

What excites you about your role?

For me, it’s about the opportunity to drive big change for the better. I am proud to lead an incredible team who are part of the work to solve some of the most complex challenges facing the global mining and energy industry. Mining is in my blood – I grew up in Port Hedland and my father, Grant, spent 30 years driving trains for BHP. It’s exciting to see how far the industry has come – and where it’s headed. 

What has your team been delivering in operational decarbonisation?

We are making great progress and have established a diverse team working across our objectives for renewable power and rail and mines electrification. We have kicked off studies to ensure we take a robust approach to diesel displacement and, in parallel, we are progressing several proof-of-concept trials to increase our knowledge of battery and energy management systems, learn how we would charge equipment and understand how a future electrified mine could operate. Importantly, we are building on our progressive relationships with manufacturers and industry partners to enable collaboration with a common aim to ensure it can be done safely and as efficiently as possible.

What are you looking forward to?

The mines of the future will need to be powered by low- to zero-emissions energy (including wind and solar) and we are working to enable our rail and heavy mobile equipment fleets to be battery powered. Technology transformation always brings opportunities and challenges that will ultimately drive us to develop new and improved ways of designing and operating our mines.