A major milestone has been reached in Australia’s path towards a cleaner and greener future, with the Clean Energy RegulatorThe Clean Energy Regulator is the Australia Government body responsible for accelerating carbon abatement for Australia through the administration of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme, Renewable Energy Target and the Emissions Reduction Fund. More registering its 1000th project under the Emissions Reduction Fund.
A soil carbon project on a sheep and cropping farm in Gollan, NSW – just outside of Dubbo – was registered in August and marked the milestone under the growing scheme. Soil projects have accounted for a quarter of all new registrations under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERFThe Emissions Reduction Fund is a voluntary scheme that aims to provide incentives for a range of organisations and individuals to adopt new practices and technologies to reduce their emissions. More) in 2021.
Whilst the program has been dominated by the agricultural sector, there is an increasing growth in the number of projects for industry. Our experience in ERF is widely driven by energy efficiency and alternate waste treatment activities – including a range of fuel switching, industrial equipment upgrades and anaerobic digestion.
A voluntary program, the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) is managed by the Clean Energy Regulator and seeks to provide incentives for organisations and individuals to adopt new practices and technologies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Projects earn Australian carbon creditA certificate that is equivalent to 1 tonne CO2-e. Credits often refer to instruments issued under a cap and trade scheme, where companies are allocated credits up to their emission cap. If they exceed the cap they need to purchase more credits. More units (ACCUs) that can be sold to generate income, either to the Government through a carbon abatement contract, or to private buyers in the private market. The average sale price across all government auctions is $12.32 per tonne.
The ERF’s most recent report showed that the scheme had so far delivered 98.89 million tonnes in cumulative emissions reductions to July 31, 2021. The 100 million tonnes barrier is expected to be broken in coming months, with the Regulator expecting the ERF to credit 17 million tonnes of emissions reductions during 2021.
Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the Emissions Reduction Fund is at the heart of the Government’s technology-led plan to drive down emissions.
“As one of the world’s most rigorous carbon offset1 carbon offset = 1 tonne of CO2-e avoided or removed from the atmosphere. Avoided emissions covers activities that alter behaviour that would have otherwise caused emissions such as energy efficiency improvements or avoided deforestation. Removal covers activities that permanently remove CO2 from the atmosphere such as new forestry plantations, soil carbon improvement or carbon capture and storage. More programs, the Emissions Reduction Fund is driving genuine actions to help Australia meet and beat our climate goals”
Minister Taylor said.
The Clean Energy Regulator has set targets to halve the development time of new ERF methods to less than 12 months.
You can read the full article on the Clean Energy Regulator website here.
