Friday, September 18, 2009

GOOD NEWS - SOIL CARBON IS "GO!"

GOOD NEWS - SOIL CARBON IS "GO!": A new tradable product called
an "Australian Removal Unit" is being offered through the Prime
Carbon "Soil Enhancement and Carbon Sequestration (SECS)
Program. SECS is a process of supported land management change
resulting in carbon storage in soil." The Carbon Coalition is
helping with this pioneering opportunity because its success
will achieve the Coalition's Goals: "To see soil carbon traded
as a legitimate offset and farmers paid fairly for what they
grow." Louisa Kiely will explain at the Carbon Farming
Conference at the National Field Day Site, Orange NSW, 4th-5th
November, 2009

FARMERS: START BANKING YOUR SOIL CARBON TONNES NOW!
Whether you want to trade asap or sit on the fence and watch,
don't let valuable soil carbon become untradable because it
isn't registered. You can apply for a Soil Carbon Sequestration
Baseline Survey now. Call 02 6374 0329.
Or mail louisa@carboncoalition.com.au.

2 comments:

John said...

So how much Carbon is an "Australian Removal Unit"?

Michael Kiely said...

John,

The basic unit of currency in the carbon market is one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (1tCO2-e). And Australian Removal Unit, therefore, is 1tCO2-e. (The 'e' stands for 'equivalent' and indicates the conversion of other Greenhouse Gases which have higher warming capacity or 'intensity' to the single unit of currency. Methane (CH4) has a warming potential of 24 (that's 24 times CO2) and nitrous oxide has been rated at more than 300 times CO2. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has been revising the figures upward of late.

BTW, the basic unit of currency outlined above is also equivalent to a kilowatt of energy.

I stand to be corrected on any of the above.

Michael