According to CSIRO Minerals research scientist Dr John Sanderson, little is being done to recover low- to medium-grade waste heat, less than 500C, which accounts for more than half of the total heat generated in industry.

The high-temperature processes used in producing commodities such as alumina, base metals, iron, steel and cement generate waste heats in various forms.

The review also recommends using satellite technology to map Australia's hot spots.

Sanderson said it was a reasonable assumption that thermal imaging data could be used to identify large waste-heat emissions from all industry sectors, not just minerals processing.

"Capturing this energy could help the industry improve its environmental performance and realise substantial energy savings," he said.

The review identified practical opportunities for additional recovery within key mineral processing industries, as well as the need for mapping key waste-heat emission hot spots in Australia.

"We've been working with CSIRO Land and Water to investigate the potential of their thermal imaging data processing in this area," Sanderson said.

Thermal imaging data processing was developed to assist with bushfire monitoring and originated from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) technology.

The review recommends a pilot study of the MODIS technology and its application to the minerals processing industry, as well as further research and development to improve existing heat exchangers and heat cycles.