This document summarizes research on the potential for land use change in the Border Rivers-Gwydir Catchment region of Australia to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. The research analyzed the carbon sequestration potential and costs of converting land to different uses like forests and environmental plantings. It found that mixed-species environmental plantings and Pinus radiata plantations have the highest carbon sequestration potential. However, targeting only regions with the highest sequestration may not be the lowest-cost strategy. The results are sensitive to the discount rate used in the analysis.
4. Australian farming sector
Potential for GHG mitigation:
◦ Reduce emissions
◦ Increase soil carbon
◦ Bioenergy
◦ Second-generation biofuels
◦ Wood or carbon plantations
◦ Conservation forests
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5. Land-use change for climate
mitigation
Considerable potential for
biosequestration
Realisation may greatly reduce the
costs of mitigation (Garnaut 2008)
Incentives required
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6. Objectives of research
What is the potential supply of carbon
mitigation services?
What are the abatement and
transaction costs?
What economic incentives are
necessary?
How will different policy arrangements
affect this supply?
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7. Methodology
For the supply of land-use changes from
landholders:
Abatement +
Incentive
s > transaction costs
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8. Abatement costs
Calculated as opportunity cost
Dependent on:
Location
Current land use
Soil type
Climatic variables
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9. Simulations
Developed model of LUC in Border
Rivers-Gwydir catchment
Modelled current land uses and 4
proposed land uses
Calculated carbon sequestration using
FullCAM model
Abatement costs calculated from a
variety of secondary sources
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11. Carbon sequestration
Av. change from current land use Av. change from current land use
to mixed spp. environmental to Eucalyptus globulus
plantings plantation
50 20
Carbon biomass (tC ha-1)
Carbon biomass (tC ha-1)
40
30
10
20
10
0 0
0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60
Year Year
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18. Conclusions
Additional carbon can be sequestered
from LUC
Mixed species plantings and Pinus
radiata plantations have the highest
sequestration potential
Targeting regions with the highest
sequestration potential is not
necessarily lowest-cost strategy
Results are sensitive to discount rate
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Notas do Editor
So if this is where we really stand, we need to look at several ways of reducing/mitigating these emissions. In 2008, Ross Garnaut released a report that he had prepared for the Rudd government on climate change and its impact on Australia. One of the chapters in this review was on agriculture. Several different ways in which agricultural and rural areas may be used to mitigate or reduce greenhouse gases include, reduced livestock emissions. Methane emissions from livestock accounts for about 67% of the GHG emissions from agriculture in Australia. Therefore there is scope to change to low methane emitting livestock or for technological advances to develop low methane emitting stock.
It was highlighted in Garnaut’s 2008 report that there is considerable potential for biosequestration in rural Australia.
What is the potential supply of carbon mitigation services from land-use change of Australian farmers?What are the abatement and transaction costs for the supply of these services, and how they vary spatially?What economic incentives are necessary to realise this supply?
A farmer j will participate in a carbon sequestration or abatement project is the incentives they receive are greater than the sum of the abatement costs and the transaction costs.
Carbon sequestration potential varies significantly based on geographical location