Pastures can support rich growth of carbon credits

February 20, 2007

University of New England researchers have backed calls from the NSW Farmers Association for the introduction of a carbon credit trading scheme, but have explained that scientific and economic know-how is not quite ready for the widespread use of such a scheme.

While there is some knowledge of the amount of carbon absorbed by trees and grasses, they say, more work is needed on the details of measuring and trading these offsets to carbon emissions for the benefit of farmers.

Dr Wal Whalley, an Honorary Fellow in Botany at UNE, explained the concept of carbon trading in simple terms. "By driving cars, or through industry, we are emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," he said. "When plants are growing they absorb that carbon dioxide and store it in the plant material and in the soil. Carbon credits enable the person who manages the land in a way that maximises this carbon absorption and retention to receive compensation for their effort from the industry (or person) that emits it into the atmosphere. We can turn around the greenhouse effect by getting a balance between the amount of carbon going in and out of our atmosphere."

Dr. Whalley, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on Australia Day this year for his work on native grasses and grassland ecology, is keen to dispel the myth that carbon credit trading schemes merely involve the "locking up" of forests. "Grasslands – and using grasslands for grazing – can provide more effective soil carbon storage than trees, as grasses have small, fibrous roots and quickly put carbon back into the soil," he said. "Through modern methods of grazing management and/or pasture cropping you can quickly increase the amount of organic matter in the soil. This is good for the grazing animals, the pasture and the soil."

"If the carbon credit trading scheme devised is simply with trees," he explained, "the science is easier because the estimation of the amount of carbon tied up in forests per year is relatively easy and commonly accepted. We don't know much about the measurement and forms of carbon increases in soils and grasslands, but our vast pastures and grasslands can probably lock up much more carbon than all our forests or plantations. Without standardised measurements of carbon increases, a widespread carbon credit trading scheme cannot exist, as there wouldn't be a fair way to work out the compensation amount. I hope that research will yield results within the next few years."

Professor David Brunckhorst, the Director of UNE's Institute for Rural Futures, said that the other area in need of considerable research was an understanding of the nature of offsets, the potential products, and how to value and trade them across markets. (Professor Brunckhorst is pictured here, at right, with Dr Whalley.)

"Where graziers are managing their land well, maximising ground cover and biomass before grazing, and then allowing sufficient rest from grazing to build up pasture and root biomass, lots of carbon can continuously and relatively quickly be stored in the soil," Professor Brunckhorst said. "Farmers can view that ground cover as a living storehouse of carbon. They will be able to sell the locked-up carbon as an offset to industries that are emitting carbon dioxide."

"However, there is not a clear understanding as to exactly how these contracts would be entered into," he continued. "Some current deals are simply one-off payments. A better option, that needs investigating in detail, might be the establishment of a commodity – tradeable in an open market – of carbon offsets. There also needs to be a consistent and accurate means of assessing the amount of locked-up carbon, against a universally accepted benchmark. Farmers have long been versatile and resourceful in the diversification of their farm business operations. I believe that carbon credit trading could be another form of diversification – a new source of income on the farm with sustainability benefits."

"Establishing a carbon credit trading scheme might also allow for an overhaul of drought policy in Australia," Professor Brunckhorst said. "By providing the right incentives to increase ground cover, build biomass, increase organic matter in soil, capture more water, and increase soil moisture retention, farm practices that increase soil carbon could also make the land more drought-resilient."

Posted by Jim Scanlan at February 20, 2007 05:06 PM