Orica Yarwun Nitrates Decarbonisation Project

Orica Yarwun Nitrates Decarbonisation Project is an industrial and commercial emissions reduction project located at Yarwun, approximately 15 kilometres northwest of Gladstone in Central Queensland. Registered on March 24, 2022, the project operates within a heavy industrial manufacturing precinct that is surrounded by native coastal habitats and grazing land. The region experiences a sub-tropical climate characterised by moderate to high summer-dominant rainfall, and the local soils generally consist of coastal clays and alluvial deposits. The project area is confined to the specific footprint of the chemical manufacturing plant rather than a broad land acreage.

This project falls under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction) Methodology Determination 2021. It transitioned to this framework from the older Facilities method on February 4, 2025. This methodology allows industrial facilities to earn carbon credits by upgrading equipment, changing fuel sources, or altering industrial processes to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. Standard requirements include establishing a regression model of baseline emissions using historical fuel, electricity, and industrial process inputs, and proving that the implemented activities result in measurable carbon abatement below this baseline.

The project targets process emissions produced during the manufacture of nitric acid, a key ingredient for explosives. Nitric acid production naturally generates nitrous oxide (N2O), a highly potent greenhouse gas that is 265 times more impactful than carbon dioxide. To combat this, Orica installed two tertiary abatement reactors at the Yarwun facility. Operating similarly to a catalytic converter in a car, these catalyst beds break down the nitrous oxide exhaust gas into harmless nitrogen and oxygen before it can reach the atmosphere. This technology is expected to eliminate roughly 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, effectively cutting the Yarwun facility's total greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 50%.