Dyno Nobel Moranbah N2O Abatement Project

Dyno Nobel Moranbah N2O Abatement Project is an industrial and commercial emissions reduction project located at the Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility, approximately 4.5km north-west of the town of Moranbah in Queensland's Bowen Basin. Registered in March 2022, the project takes place on a 280-hectare site. The surrounding regional land use is heavily dominated by metallurgical coal mining operations as well as rural cattle grazing. The local Moranbah environment experiences a semi-arid, dry tropical rainfall pattern and is characterised by deep heavy clay soils, such as Brigalow cracking clays.

Industrial and commercial emissions reduction projects involve upgrading, replacing, or modifying equipment and processes to lower the greenhouse gases produced during industrial activities. Under the standard methodology requirements, projects must demonstrate that they improve energy efficiency or reduce process emissions by changing how existing emissions-producing equipment is controlled or operated, such as through the introduction of specific chemical catalysts.

In this project, Dyno Nobel uses catalysts to abate nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, produced during the chemical manufacture of ammonium nitrate, which is a key component in explosives used by the mining industry. The facility recently implemented a $20 million abatement project utilizing specialized EnviNOx technology to convert nitrous oxide into naturally occurring nitrogen and oxygen. This system removes more than 95% of nitrous oxide emissions from the nitric acid manufacturing process and is projected to abate around 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually. Furthermore, this carbon project secured an optional delivery carbon abatement contract (CAC935015) in April 2023 for 1,476,000 tonnes, which has now been completed and concluded.