The mining industry, which contributes around four to seven percent of global CO₂ emissions, has been under pressure to achieve carbon-neutral processes within a matter of years. On the other hand, the ever-increasing need for rare earth metals to support the green movement away from carbon-based fuels towards electronics such as electric storage and vehicle batteries makes achieving carbon neutrality a huge feat. Mining for these rarer, less abundant metals such as platinum, cobalt and neodymium has a large environmental cost.

Assisting the process of achieving carbon neutrality falls not only to the mining companies, but also to supporting industries and supplies. At Rigaku, we pride ourselves on building robust, hard-working analytical equipment, such as XRF and XRD instruments. These are built to last, thereby reducing the need for frequent costly replacement. In addition, the requirement for instrument consumables has been lowered over the years, not simply as a cost-saving exercise to the customer, but with an understanding that these all contribute to the carbon footprint of a system.