Thursday, June 12, 2008

Fools rush in...?

A report in Australian Farm Journal (June 2008) features a farmer involved in the Landcare CarbonSmart program. The price of carbon dioxide was around $9/tonne when CarbonSmart launched, $20/tonne in March when the AFJ report was being written and $40/tonne in May when I read it. Industry watchers estimate the price will move quickly to $60 and some say it will eventually reach $100. Those who locked in at $9 deserve our sympathy. Tip: Don’t commit your whole property.

CarbonSmart's website contains this information:
"This example is based on a 10-hectare site near Wagga Wagga, NSW that was established by directseeding in 2000. Based on " today’s" price, this site will return over $4,000 in 10 years, this is before any expected price rises are passed onto the landholder. This equates to an average of $40/ha for 10 years. The project will average $270/ha for a total of over $8,000 in 30 years. This translates to $62/ha per year (average) for 10 years (that is, $25/acre)."

"The carbon will remain on site for at least 100 years after the final trade of that carbon."

Ben Keogh
Project Director, Landcare CarbonSMART
Tel: 0425 877 676
Email: benk@carbonsmart.com.au

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