PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining services provider Orica has officially unveiled its tertiary catalyst abatement technology to halve emissions from its Kooragang Island explosives manufacturing facility.

Orica is using tertiary catalyst abatement technology to capture nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide and a by-product of explosives production – to deliver a 48% emissions reduction at the Kooragang Island manufacturing plant.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has previously invested A$25-million towards Orica’s A$37-million decarbonisation project which will cut more than 567 000 t/y of emissions from the facility.

Orica MD and CEO Sanjeev Gandhi said the project clearly demonstrated that with the right policy settings and corporate commitments, emissions reduction was possible in hard-to-abate industries of the economy.

“The policy certainty from the passage of the government’s Safeguard reforms means we can now continue to accelerate our decarbonisation plans with confidence.

“We will continue to invest across our operations, to ensure Australian manufactured products remain competitive as the world transitions to a lower carbon economy,” Gandhi said.

Visiting the Orica site, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the project was an example of the government’s Safeguard reforms delivering certainty for Australian industry on the road to net zero.

“The government is proud to be working in partnership with companies like Orica as they use innovative technology to reduce their emissions,” Bowen said.

“This is exactly the type of innovation that our safeguard reforms incentivise, helping industrial emitters reduce their emissions while staying competitive.

"We congratulate Orica investing in technology that helps protect job security for the over 250 employees at the Kooragang Island facility, ensuring they remain competitive in a decarbonising global economy.”

Under the Safeguard Mechanism reforms passed by the government in March, Australia’s biggest emitters have policy certainty to invest in their pathway to net zero emissions.

As a whole, these reforms will deliver more than 200-million tonnes of emissions reduction by 2030.