Several months into a testing program for autonomous electric haulers at a century-old cement quarry in Switzerland, multinational aggregates manufacturer Holcim seeks new ways to decarbonize its operations.
One approach is by deploying autonomous machines, says Fabio Carluccio, Holcim’s head of quarry decarbonization. A typical firm quarry produces 1 million metric tons of limestone per year, hauled over a 1-km to 1.5-km track during restricted shift schedules by giant dump trucks. The sites have heavy fuel consumption, with large dozers, drills and graders, along with noise and dust. “In many countries this is putting our operating licenses at very serious risk,” Carluccio says. “We have a serious problem in that we may not be able to operate like this in 10 years, or in five. We’ve already seen examples around the world where quarries are not having their operating licenses extended.”