Sequestration of Carbon from Soil Carbon QLD1

Sequestration of Carbon from Soil Carbon QLD1 is a soil carbon project located in the Burdekin region, approximately 50-60km southeast of Townsville in Queensland. It was registered in June 2025 and covers an area of 1,838.63 hectares.

Soil carbon projects utilizing the "Measurement and Models" methodology involve introducing new agricultural management practices to increase the amount of organic carbon stored in the soil. These projects require comprehensive baseline soil sampling, ongoing measurement, and scientific modeling to accurately calculate the carbon sequestered over the crediting period.

The Burdekin and Townsville areas sit within the dry tropics, experiencing a tropical savanna climate characterized by high summer rainfall (the wet season) and distinctly dry winters. The region is a major agricultural hub heavily utilized for cattle grazing and intensive cropping such as sugar cane. The target environment for this project features sodic or magnesic soils, which are typically dense, clay-heavy soils that suffer from poor structure and limit healthy plant growth.

To improve soil health and maximize carbon retention, the project's core activities involve applying gypsum to remediate these structurally poor sodic and magnesic soils, adding nutrients via synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material deficiencies, and undertaking new irrigation.

An interesting aspect of this project is its proponent, Rio Tinto Energy Services Pty Ltd. The global mining company has been actively investing in Australian nature-based carbon solutions, including researching Pongamia seed farms in the Burdekin region as a potential feedstock for renewable diesel to aid their decarbonization efforts. Additionally, registry notes indicate that on March 30, 2026, a variation was made to the project to remove certain land areas originally listed under the project boundaries.