Orica Yarwun Nitrates Decarbonisation Project

Orica Yarwun Nitrates Decarbonisation Project is an Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction project located at Yarwun, approximately 10 to 15km northwest of Gladstone in Central Queensland. It was registered in March 2022. Because it is an industrial facility upgrade, it does not have a traditional land-based project area.

Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction projects involve modifying industrial processes, upgrading equipment, or changing energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The standard requirements involve calculating baseline emissions using regression models based on fuel, electricity, and process inputs, and proving the reduction through the implemented upgrades. Notably, on February 4, 2025, this project varied its project method, transitioning from the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Facilities) Methodology Determination 2015 to the newer 2021 Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction determination.

The Yarwun and Gladstone region is heavily utilized for large-scale industrial activities, including alumina refineries and chemical manufacturing, alongside port facilities and surrounding agricultural grazing land. The local environment features a coastal sub-tropical climate with high annual rainfall averaging roughly 942mm. The soils in the Yarwun area generally consist of deep red or brown coarse sands on footslopes and texture contrast soils associated with the local Targinie Granite, as well as some coastal acid sulfate soils.

This project reduces process emissions during chemical manufacture by utilizing advanced catalysts. Orica's Yarwun plant produces ammonium nitrate for the mining industry, a process that naturally generates nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas over 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By installing tertiary abatement technology and running waste gas through a catalyst bed, the project can break down up to 95% of these harmful N2O emissions into naturally occurring nitrogen and oxygen. This project mirrors similar, highly successful tertiary abatement technology that Orica deployed at its Kooragang Island facility in New South Wales.