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What is Carbon?
This hoo-hah about Carbon - what's it all about and how does it affect us?
Carbon (C) is the basic building block for all life on and in earth. Vibrant, living soils require air and water as well as soil carbon. Carbon is the driver for every aspect of soil health and soil function.
If organic carbon begins and ends its journey as a gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), how does it get into the soil?
The way in for soil carbon, is the process of photosynthesis in green leaves. Much of this carbon is released right back into the air by respiration or decay of plant material, but some of it can become soil organic matter, often called humus. This organic matter can persist in soils for hundreds or even thousands of years. At the same time, many factors can slow the decay of organic materials and, as a result, affect a soil's capacity for storing carbon. Inherent factos include climate variables (temperature and rainfall), clay content and minerology. Perennial grasses, for example, periodically shed their roots into the soil. These dead roots feed comoplex soil food-webs, and soil organic matter and humus can be the stable result. Also, these grasses exude carbohydrates into the rooting zone, typically at night, which feed complex food-webs.
Terrestrial ecosystems, both plants and soils, provide an attractive mechanism for carbon sequestration because we can manage them. We can manage plant growth to increase plants' capacity to uptake carbon dioxide. And we can manage plant growth so that soils in turn store carbon for long periods of time.
Carbon cycle - http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/co2_cycle.html
Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI)
The Carbon Farming Initiative is a voluntary carbon offsets scheme being established by the Australian Government to encourage land sector abatement and provide economic opportunities for farmers, forest growers and Indigenous landholders to participate in carbon markets while also helping the environment by reducing carbon pollution.
An independent administrator will be responsible for the operation of the CGI, including activities such as approving projects, issuing credits, keeping a registry and ensuring projects continue to meet the scheme’s requirements. (DAFF)
The Carbon Farming Initiative includes:
- Legislation to establish a carbon crediting mechanism;
- Fast-tracked development of methodologies for offset projects; and
- Information and tools to help farmers and landholders benefit from carbon markets.
What are Carbon Credits?
Carbon credits represent abatement of greenhouse gases which is achieved by:
- Reducing or avoiding emissions, for example, through capture and destruction of methane emissions from landfill or livestock manure; or
- Removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in soil or trees, for example, by growing a forest or reducing tillage on a farm in a way that increases soil carbon.
They are usually purchased and used by individuals or companies to cancel out or 'offset' the emissions they generate during their day-to-day life or normal course of business, for example, by consuming electricity or catching a plane.
Carbon credits can be used to offset emissions voluntarily or to meet regulatory requirements.
Offset Methodologies
Offset projects established under the Carbon Farming Initiative will need to use methodologies approved by the Government. These contain the detailed rules for implementing and monitoring specific abatement activities and generating carbon credits under the scheme.
Methodologies may be developed by private proponents and industry associations as well as government agencies.
Recent Developments:
Link to page on CFI website: http://climatechange.gov.au/en/government/initiatives/carbon-farming-initiative/recent-developments.aspx
For all information regarding the Carbon Farming Initiative:
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/cfi
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE)
Vision: To improve Australia’s wellbeing by contributing to effective national and global responses to climate change, including the necessary transformation of the Australian economy.
Mission: To support Government in developing a more prosperous and sustainable Australia by leading and coordinating the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, promotion of energy efficiency, adaptation to climate change and shaping of global solutions.
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/
Climate Change
Greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect are naturally occurring phenomena. The earth’s climate is not static and has been undergoing changes in greenhouse gas concentration for millennia, evidenced by ice cores and geological data collected by scientists.
However, there is current evidence to suggest that as a result of human (anthropogenic) activities, the proportion of greenhouse gases are increasing. This is often referred to as the enhanced greenhouse effect (although being enhanced in this case is not a good thing).
The significant increase in greenhouse gases is resulting in greater absorption of the sun’s radiation, trapping heat and increasing the natural greenhouse effect of the atmosphere. The result of extra heat in the atmosphere is increasing the temperature of the earth’s surface (and troposphere), resulting in global warming. Climate change refers to long-term changes in climate, including average temperature and rainfall. (redmap.org.au)
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change.aspx
Clean Energy Future
This is the Australian Government’s comprehensive plan for securing a clean energy future.
This includes:
- introducing a carbon price
- promoting innovation and investment in renewable energy
- encouraging energy efficiency
- creating opportunities in the land sector to cut pollution.
http://www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au/
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