The ABC Landline had a segment – Carbon Farming – interviews with rent seekers claiming $Million dollar benefits. CSIRO has known for decades that “The present modelled rate of net sequestration is of a similar magnitude to CO2 emissions from continental fossil fuel burning and land clearing combined.” That is from the early 1990’s.
Now CSIRO knows even more –
Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have helped boost green foliage across the world’s arid regions over the past 30 years through a process called CO2 fertilisation, according to CSIRO research.- 3 July 2013
So why are we wasting megabucks paying a tiny minority of landowners to sequester carbon when our entire continent is naturally doing it for free anyway?
The real question that should be asked is who is pushing what barrows & who gets the MONEY?
There are groups commercializing their positions to cash in on CARBON FARMING but they ignore the obvious tracts of land which are already locked up & protected at taxpayer expense – the NATIONAL PARKS!.
I guess if there was any cream to be skimmed from the Parks it would either go to the government or worse end up via World Heritage Listing being skimmed to the Fabian Bureaucrats in the UN.
Hard not to be cynical about the holier than thou green lawyers driving the parading their environmental credentials to ëke”a living/sarc.
tom dundas:
I am waiting until someone realises that up-grading our coal fired electricity stations to the latest Chinese or German technology would reduce sector emissions by 22-25%. (From 960 kg. per MWh to 700 for black coal, and 38% drop for brown coal if the Germans are telling the truth).
That is far more than wind turbines could ever deliver, even if we carpeted the place with them, and far cheaper. Of course the station owners would want a time guarantee, since these new stations would far outlive wind turbines. Can you imagine the reaction from the rent vultures if this was approved and some “greens only” money used to subsidise them?
G3
I am waiting for the minimal capacity excess to bite both in our summer (in SA via overloads in VIC) & in UK where they are looking down the barrel with 96%+ already in their demand heading into NH winter.