Timmins forestry firm turning carbon into cash

Timmins forestry firm turning carbon into cash

Mikro-Tek rapid growth tech recognized by UN

By: Nick Stewart

Mark Kean, president of Mikro-Tek, displays just some of the cultures being grown in the Timmins laboratory to prepare for enhanced tree growth in Chile.

Among the foothills of Chile's Andean mountain range lies the handiwork of Timmins environmental bio-tech firm Mikro-Tek, whose rapid tree growth project is turning it into a global carbon credit trader.

After undergoing rigorous inspection by international auditors, accountants and forestry experts, the company's proprietary forest management technology is now registered by the United Nations.

This makes Mikro-Tek the first Canadian company to meet the stringent Kyoto Protocol registration process for forestry projects, and just one of seven such small-scale forestry projects worldwide.

"It's been an awful lot of hard work, but we're proud of this designation," says Mark Kean, president of Mikro-Tek.

"This puts us in a good position for the future and the types of things we have planned."

The move now gives the company the official green light to trade carbon credits between countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Through this system, credits are created through the reduction of greenhouse gases in developing countries, which in the case of Mikro-Tek is accomplished through the absorption of carbon by the trees they grow in places like Chile. These credits can then be sold to developed countries who need to meet emissions targets as part of a system to achieve a sort of global balance.

It's a process that's already begun, with Mikro-Tek regaining some of its initial investment costs by selling some of the credits produced through the Chilean project to various European states.

Since 1990, the company has studied the use of natural soil microbes, known as mycorrhizae, to enhance the speed of tree growth, applying them to forest seedlings prior to planting or through irrigation.

It's an effort with proven results: a three-year study done by the company with 10 million seedlings in the late 1990s showed average growth increases of 25 per cent. Re-examination of some of the trees since then has indicated the growth rate has held steady, and in some cases, has actually improved.

It's a proprietary technology Kean has used to help re-green mine tailings areas with the likes of Vale, Xstrata Nickel and Goldcorp.

This success is further enhanced in places like Chile, where trees naturally grow faster than in Canada due to a year-round growing season.

It's something that prompted the establishment of a branch office in the country. Through this, Kean reached out to a coalition of small-scale Chilean farmers who traditionally grow grapes and citrus fruits in areas where forests were cleared 100 years prior to make room for agricultural work.

In the back end of these lands, however, are non-productive hilly regions where farming is all but impossible due to the lack of any real irrigation.

With that, Mikro-Tek struck deals to reforest these clearings, with the farmers needing only to build fencing to protect the young trees from hungry cattle or roving mountain goats.

Back at the Timmins biotechnology facility, testing was conducted to adapt the soil bacteria from its traditional use in Boreal-forest environments to those in Chile. It has since been applied successfully to pine and eucalyptus growth projects in the area, providing UN approval and hope for the company.

Despite the positive results, using forestry projects as a basis for carbon credits has its own challenges. Unlike solar and windmill-driven projects, the amount of carbon credits generated by trees can be challenging to quantify. Trees absorb different amounts of carbon depending on their stage of growth, meaning projects such as those in Chile require updating and monitoring through satellite photography and site visits.

Unexpected events can also threaten the project, as Mikro-Tek discovered when an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter Scale shook the region in 2003. The loss of trees to disasters or weather means a smaller carbon capture and a reduction in credits, though a forester hired by the company found no damage, thereby preserving the integrity of the project.

"There are lots of checks and balances to the system," says Kean.

With its Chilean success and UN registration under its belt, the company's plan is now to begin using things like its proprietary C-Trade Carbon Pool to allow investors to put up money for projects. In return, they would obtain the financial equivalent of carbon credits spread over a set period of time, something Kean likens to a mutual fund.

Plans also include the expansion of projects both in Canada and abroad.

Western Climate Initiative offers cap-and-trade

By JEFF BARNARD (AP)

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A coalition of seven western states and three Canadian provinces on Tuesday offered its most detailed strategy yet for controlling greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change, saying they hope it will stand as a model for national systems in the United States and Canada.

At the core is a cap-and-trade system that would go into effect in January 2012, gradually ramping down emissions levels. The system, which gives financial incentives to reduce carbon emissions, would start with power plants, then extend to large industrial producers and transportation.

The goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the next 10 years to levels 15 percent below those in the year 2005.

Building on a less detailed strategy issued two years ago, the plan comes as Congress has been unable to produce a climate bill to address the same issues.

The document includes the first details of how the carbon auction would work, and it recommends that offsets from programs that store carbon would be limited to a fraction of total emissions. There would be a floor price on emissions, and the auction would be open to anyone.

Art Sasse, a spokesman for Pacificorp, which serves about 1.7 million electricity customers in the northwestern U.S., said the utility had not seen enough specifics about the plan to comment.

So far, only two states — California and New Mexico — and three provinces — Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia — are writing regulations in anticipation of joining the Western regional carbon auction when it begins in 2012, said Michael Gibbs, California's deputy secretary for climate change and co-chairman of the initiative.

The two states and three provinces account for 70 percent of the emissions produced by the signers of the strategy, creating enough liquidity to get the cap-and-trade system up and running, said Robert Noel de Tilly, climate change adviser for Quebec's Ministry for Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks.

An economic analysis estimated that fuel savings would offset the cost of investing in new more energy-efficient equipment to meet limits on carbon production, Gibbs said.

Not all of the states in the climate group are enthusiastic. The Utah Legislature has passed a resolution urging Republican Gov. Gary Herbert to pull out, and GOP Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona has ordered the state not to adopt cap-and-trade.

The other states in the coalition are Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the coalition's plan is an important step toward reducing dependency on oil, increasing energy security, and creating jobs and investment.

"Action continues to be needed at the national and international levels to address clean energy and climate change, but California and the rest of the Western Climate Initiative partners are not waiting to take action," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement.

Jim Whitestone of the Ontario Ministry of Environment said the coalition hopes the cap-and-trade system will serve as a model for the United States and Canada governments.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged to keep pushing for broad climate legislation, and the White House expressed fresh hope the Senate and House might strike a deal on a sweeping energy plan this year.

Robert Stavins, professor of business and government at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program, said he did not anticipate Congress taking action that soon, and he was skeptical anything could be achieved in the next two years if Republicans gain seats in the House and Senate. Republicans have strongly opposed creating a cap-and-trade system for carbon.

"Hence, it's not surprising that sub-national entities, such as states, will move forward on their own," Stavins said in an e-mail. "The state model will be less effective and more costly for what is achieved than a national cap-and-trade system would be, but it may be the second-best approach."

The strategy also called for linking up with other carbon markets in the East and Midwest, an approach Stavins said would make them more efficient.

___

Online:

Western Climate Initiative: http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org

Forest Cover Loss Indonesia: Norway $1 Billion

Forest Cover Loss in Indonesia, 2000-2005: The Starting Point for the Norwegian Billion to Reduce Deforestation

Overview
Up to 84% of Indonesia’s national greenhouse gas emissions arise from land use change and deforestation. This map shows the extent and location of forest cover loss in Indonesia—detected by satellite—for 2000 to 2005, when deforestation averaged 0.71 million hectares per year and Indonesia was the second-most deforesting country, following Brazil. Globally, Indonesia accounts for approximately 27 percent of GHG emissions from land use change and forestry.
Norway and Indonesia recently signed a letter of intent (LOI) worth $1 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by loss of Indonesia’s forests. Through the LOI, Indonesia has agreed to a two-year moratorium on the conversion of natural forests and peatlands to other uses, such as palm oil plantations. In addition, Indonesia has pledged to move agricultural development from forests to already degraded lands. Through this agreement, Indonesia has pledged to reduce total national emissions by 26% relative to business as usual levels by 2020. With assistance from international partners emission reductions could reach 41%.

Sources
Forest cover loss data: Matthew Hansen et al., Global Forest Monitoring project, South Dakota State University

Forest cover density data: Vegetation Continuous Fields project, University of Maryland
Hansen, M.C., Stehman, S.V., Potapov, P.V., Arunarwati, B., Stolle, F., and Pittman, K., 2009, Quantifying changes in the rates of forest clearing in Indonesia from 1990 to 2005 using remotely sensed data sets, Environmental Research Letters, 4(3) doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/4/3/034001.

Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) version 7.0. (Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 2010).

Copyright
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Cite “World Resources Institute.”
WRI Indonesia News and Information
Degraded Land, Sustainable Palm Oil, and Indonesia’s Future
What’s Next for Indonesia-Norway Cooperation on Forests?
Low Carbon Palm Oil for Indonesia?
Project POTICO: Palm Oil, Timber & Carbon Offsets in Indonesia
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NZ Forest subsidy chopped

Forest-planting subsidy gets the chop
By Brian Fallow
4:00 AM Wednesday Jul 14, 2010
The Government is winding down a scheme to subsidise the planting of new forests, saying the emissions trading scheme makes it unnecessary.
Labour forestry spokesman Stuart Nash disagrees, saying a range of options is needed to encourage planting and the ETS doesn't suit everyone.
But critics of the afforestation grants scheme say it is badly designed and open to abuse.
About $16.5 million has been allocated under the scheme so far. But this year's Budget cut the funding for 2011/12 and 2012/13 from $7 million to $5 million a year. The scheme will then be closed, a year earlier than intended.
This frees up $6 million to be "reprioritised" towards the cost of executing the forestry-related aspects of the ETS, estimated to be about $8 million over the next two years.
Forestry Minister David Carter said that was mainly for the forestry allocation plan, making sure units distributed under the ETS were accurately allocated and registered.
"We are dealing with an allocation value of something in excess of $1 billion.
So we have to do our best to get that right."
He said that under the previous Government significant net deforestation had occurred so it had developed the afforestation grants scheme, which at least got some people interested in planting trees again.
"Now we have a credible emissions trading scheme established and we are seeing a significant increase in interest from rural landowners in planting trees. I don't think we need the afforestation grant scheme to get more trees in the ground."
But under the ETS eligible forest owners who opt into the scheme to earn credits for the carbon their trees lock up while they are growing, also accept liability for the emission of that carbon when the trees are harvested.
Nash said some were deterred by those potential liabilities. "The Government needs to have options available where landowners don't necessarily take up the carbon credits."
Under the afforestation grant scheme ownership of the credits generated by a new forest for its first 10 years remained with the Crown.
One forestry consultant spoken to by the Business Herald said although the scheme was supposed to be fiscally neutral, in practice up to twice as much had been paid out in subsidies as the carbon sequestered in the trees' early years would be worth.
"The industry loves it. But it's a rort," he said.
It had, however, helped to keep forestry nurseries in business during a particularly lean time.
Nash said it was a strength of the scheme that half of the funding available was administered by regional councils and could help them to meet sustainable land management objectives such as reducing erosion or improving water quality.
Other schemes to encourage afforestation remain, though both are under review. One is the East Coast forest scheme, aimed at erosion-prone country in the eastern North Island.
"It is being scaled back quite a lot and that is a worry as well," Nash said.
The other is the Permanent Forest Sinks Initiative which awards carbon credits for new permanent, as distinct from plantation, forests.
The more stringent environmental standards which need to be met to qualify for the latter make them more attractive to European Governments fastidious about the credits engendered by plantation forestry.
Carter said it was a bit rich for Nash to accuse him of taking a chainsaw to the afforestation grants scheme when Labour had presided over more than 30,000ha of net deforestation. That was the real chainsaw massacre.
"He does have a point," Nash said. "I acknowledge that."

ERA - First in Canada to receive gold level CCBA standard validation

ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.: Community Ecosystem Restoration Program First in Canada to Receive Gold Level-Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard's Validation

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Jul 14, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. /quotes/comstock/11v!esr (CA:ESR 0.25, 0.00, 0.00%) , through its 100% owned subsidiary ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc. (ERA), is pleased to announce that their Community Ecosystem Restoration Program (CERP) has received final validation to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance's (CCBA) Gold Level Project Design Standard as of June 24th, 2010.
The CCBA Project Design Standards evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects in the early stages of development. The CCBA Standards were created to foster the integration of best-practice and multiple-benefit approaches into project design and evolution. The Standards identify projects that simultaneously address climate change, support local communities, and conserve biodiversity, while promoting excellence and innovation in project design.
In order to meet CCBA's "Gold Level Project Standard" a project must meet or surpass the following criteria:
"The Gold Level Climate Change Adaptation Benefits criterion identifies projects that will provide significant support to assist communities in adapting to the impacts of climate change. Communities and biodiversity in some areas of the world will be more vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. Land-based carbon projects have the potential to help local communities and biodiversity adapt to climate change by: diversifying revenues and livelihood strategies; maintaining valuable ecosystem services such as hydrological regulation, pollination, pest control and soil fertility; and increasing habitat connectivity across a range of habitat and climate types."
Dr. Robert Falls, ERA's Chief Executive Officer, commented: "In being the first in Canada to have attained the rigorous Gold Level Standard, ERA has again demonstrated its pioneering spirit and its capacity for developing high quality projects and carbon offset products for growing international carbon markets."
The third party validation was completed by KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. The CERP project is the first project in Canada to be double validated to both the ISO-14064-2 standard and the CCBA Gold Standard.
CERP is a large scale urban ecosystem restoration program that began in the District of Maple Ridge in 2005, and now includes projects in the District of Mission, the City and Township of Langley, and Metro Vancouver. To date, CERP has generated over 700,000 tonnes of Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) for the international carbon markets. The VERs generated from CERP are serialized and registered on the international Markit Environmental Registry.
About CCBA
The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) is a partnership between leading companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research institutions seeking to promote integrated solutions to land management around the world. With this goal in mind, the CCBA has developed voluntary standards to help design and identify land management projects that simultaneously minimize climate change, support sustainable development and conserve biodiversity. Website address http://www.climate-standards.org/index.html
About KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc.
KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. (KPMG FCSI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of KPMG LLP, the Canadian member firm of KPMG International. KPMG FCSI is accredited to conduct forest management and chain of custody certification audits worldwide by the Forest Stewardship Council. KPMG FCSI's team of professional foresters, biologists, and environmental management systems assessors has been actively involved in the evolution of forest practices auditing for over eight years, and brings a wealth of auditing expertise to task in conducting each assessment.
http://www.kpmg.ca/en/
About ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
ERA is a Canadian pioneer in forest restoration and conservation carbon offset projects. The company's Community Ecosystem Restoration Program located in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, began in 2005 in the District of Maple Ridge, and has grown to include five communities including Metro Vancouver. ERA has delivered over 1,000,000 tonnes of carbon offsets to the voluntary market and is engaged in the development of forest carbon projects in Canada, Africa and the Hawaiian Islands to supply the North American pre-compliance market. ERA's clients and product users include Air Canada, Catalyst Paper, HSE - Entega, Rolling Stone Magazine, Shell Canada Limited, The Forest Carbon Group, and The Globe Foundation of Canada. ERA's carbon offsets are being validated to the ISO 14064, CCBA, and VCS standards.
Additional information on ERA can be found on the corporate website www.eracarbonoffsets.com or by contacting investor@eracarbonoffsets.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors of ERA CARBON OFFSETS LTD.
Robert Falls, Chief Executive Officer
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the continued advancement of the company's general business development, research development and the company's development of forest-based carbon offsets. When used in this document, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intent", "may", "project", "plan", "should" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Although ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. believes that their expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include fluctuations in the marketplace for the sale of carbon credits, the inability to implement corporate strategies, the ability to obtain financing and other risks disclosed in our filings made with Canadian Securities Regulators.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts:
ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
Alex Langer
604-646-0400
alex.langer@eraecosystems.com
www.eracarbonoffsets.com
SOURCE: ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.

TNC/WCS On-the Ground REDD experience

On-the-Ground REDD Project Experience (The Nature Conservancy / IISD)
Posted on July 24, 2010 by willem van cotthem
Read at : Forest Policy Info Mailing List
New Casebook of On-the-Ground REDD Project Experience
The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society are pleased to share with you a new publication entitled Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): A Casebook of On-the-Ground Experience, which we hope you will find of interest. The full report is available electronically at: http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/redd/documents/redd-a-casebook-of-on-the-ground-experience
Today, there is widespread consensus that we cannot solve the climate change crisis without addressing deforestation. Yet, there are on-going attempts to cast doubt on whether forest carbon can be a credible part of the climate solution, and a debate is in full swing about the inclusion of forests in U.S. and international climate policy. Against this backdrop, we felt it was important to document and share our experience. To that end, we set out several months ago to painstakingly synthesize over a decade of history and thousands of pages of technical documents into the attached 70-page casebook on a selection of our REDD efforts.
For a combined 38 years, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society have been leaders in piloting 17 on-the-ground REDD demonstration projects. Through these projects, we have helped pioneer and further the state of knowledge of forest carbon measurement, carbon accounting methodologies, conservation strategies, and community involvement approaches.
This casebook draws on four specific experiences in Bolivia, Madagascar, and Indonesia. The report examines the principal aspects of demonstrating REDD credibility (e.g., baselines and additionality, measuring and monitoring, leakage, impermanence, etc.). For each issue, a project is examined in depth, describing how the challenges were dealt with and lessons learned for the future. The bottom line is simple: These projects demonstrate that REDD can produce credible carbon benefits, often with positive effects on local people and biodiversity.
As the discussions continue about whether and how to structure climate policy and financial investments to address emissions from forests, there is much to learn from on-the-ground activities. We hope that you find our experiences both interesting and informative.

Australia Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund

Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund
– July 26, 2010

1. Overview
The Australian Government is committed to ensuring Australia meets its responsibilities in facing the global challenge of climate change.
Climate change has significant implications for Australia’s forests and forest industries. The Australian Government, as part of its 2007 election commitments, has provided $8 million in government grants over three financial years from 2008–09 to 2010–11 to address major knowledge gaps about the impacts of climate change on forestry and forest industries. The forest industries ministerial advisory committee, the Forest and Wood Products Council, has assisted in identifying priorities for investment.
As part of this commitment, the Australian Government will provide $5 million in government grants through the Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund, which will commence in 2009-10 and cease on 30 June 2011.
These guidelines provide details on the Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund program, which is to be administered by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department).
2. Purpose and aim of the program
The Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund will provide $5 million in government grants in one round of funding to address major knowledge gaps about the impact of climate change on forestry and forest industries in Australia.
Through research, this government grant program will assist the industry to better understand the implications of climate change and build industry capacity to adapt to predicted scenarios and capitalise on emerging mitigation opportunities.
Addressing knowledge gaps will assist commercial forest planners and managers to better manage their forest assets in a changing environment. Generating information and developing tools and expertise will assist sustainability benefits to flow through the value chain and contribute to growth and development in forestry dependent communities.
Projects funded through this program aim to achieve the following outcomes:
Forest industry stakeholders are better able to adapt to changed climatic conditions through the availability of new technologies and techniques which encourage different practices
Forest industry stakeholders are better equipped with the knowledge, tools and strategies to manage their emissions, including a greater ability to participate in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Forest industry stakeholders and forestry dependant communities better understand the range of climate change impacts and the future implications for their enterprise and region.
Collaborative research projects involving industry, scientific and government organisations are supported. This will ensure that relevant expertise and experience is brought together so that commercial realities are taken into account in achieving outcomes and improve the transition from applied research to demonstration and implementation of commercial applications.
3. Delivery of the program
This program is a competitive government grants program. Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from research providers will be assessed on a competitive basis by an independent assessment panel including relevant experts from the industry, scientific and government sectors.
In assessing EOIs, the panel will draw upon work completed to date to ensure that projects sufficiently advance the forest industries’ understanding of the implications of climate change, the ability to adapt to predicted climate scenarios, to manage emissions, and capitalise on emerging mitigation opportunities.
Based on the assessment by the independent panel, proponents of highly ranked EOIs will be invited to prepare full project proposals. The department will negotiate these project proposals with the proponents. Finalised research project proposals will also be sent to the Rural Research and Development Council for consideration. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will be responsible for the final approval of projects under this program.
Larger scale collaborative projects with cross sectoral applications, and which combine the efforts of a number of eligible parties in consortia, are strongly encouraged.
Government grants from this program will generally be up to $500,000. Higher grants may be considered in special circumstances where collaborative and integrated projects seek outcomes that will apply across the whole industry. Some very specific projects in priority areas will not require the full available allocation. The funding will be provided on the basis of cash and in-kind co-contributions by proponents. Funding from other Australian or state/territory government sources, research institutions and industry partners will be accepted as an applicant’s contribution to a project.
Government grants under this program will complement not duplicate, other research initiatives.
Government grants will be paid when an applicant completes each milestone specified in a negotiated Funding Deed. The program will end on 30 June 2011. Approved projects must be delivered by 30 May 2011, in order to ensure final funding is paid before 30 June 2011.
4. Who is eligible?
To be eligible to apply for government grant funding, you must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Your organisation must be able to provide, upon request, professionally prepared financial statements demonstrating your ability to fund your share of project costs
2. The proposed project must primarily involve new work
3. The proposed work must be completed and reported by 30 May 2011
4. Your EOI must address the assessment criteria
5. The proposed work must not duplicate other research activity
6. EOI proponents must be an Australian registered company or research agency, for example:
Peak national or state forestry organisations
Australian, state or territory government agency
Australian tertiary education institution
Australian Cooperative Research Centre
Australian registered business or registered industry group
Australian public sector research agency
Australian private, not for profit, research organisation.
5. What activities are eligible for funding?
Project proposals need to address major knowledge gaps about the impact of climate change on forestry, forest industries and forestry dependent communities in Australia, while providing skills, knowledge or strategies to help industry address these issues and respond to the challenges and opportunities arising from climate change.
Priority areas for addressing knowledge gaps for the industry include, but are not limited to:
Adaptation
Further research, which will allow all commercial forest sectors, forest planners and managers, and forestry dependent communities, to better adapt to climate change is a priority. The fund will support research in the following area:
Development of diagnostic tools and techniques to determine when (and what) specific management intervention is required to respond to the threats and opportunities of climate change. This will include but will not be limited to determining interactions between; increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, changed rainfall regimes, water availability, fire risk, incidence and severity of pests and disease outbreaks; and forest enterprises, to inform the development of management systems and intervention options
Develop methods to identify critical infrastructure necessary for the industry where viability is at risk from climate change
Develop, provide and facilitate farm forestry and other regional-scale tree planting and sustainable forest management options, which can be used in the business models of forestry, agricultural and other land use sectors as a means of adaptation.
Mitigation
As a sequesterer of carbon, the forestry sector has opportunities to make contributions to the national climate change mitigation effort. Projects on mitigation techniques and technologies which attempt to integrate economic and social analysis are strongly encouraged as it would assist in informing the development of commercial applications.
Mitigation priorities include:
Expanding and strengthening the dataset underpinning the fate of carbon in harvested wood products during use and after disposal; and demonstrating how net emissions from harvested wood products could be recognised within international carbon trading protocols
Research and demonstration projects that identify and investigate opportunities to reduce emissions and improve carbon sequestration potential in the industry, and determining the social and economic implications of these opportunities
Develop measures to identify and address critical bottlenecks to greater use of recycled wood and paper products
Bioenergy
Bioenergy currently contributes just 0.5% to Australia’s total electricity supply, with energy generation from wood related waste and residues occurring on a very small scale. The Australian biofuels industry is also small, supplying less than 0.5% of Australia’s transport fuel. Research projects may be considered that promote the development and deployment of sustainable bioenergy generation based on forest industries resources on a commercial scale. Projects that identify required resources to realise the opportunities presented by bioenergy may also be considered.
Inventory and data
A basic level of information about the forestry and forest products industry is required urgently to establish a benchmark against which the results of strategies addressing the challenges and opportunities faced by the industry from climate change may be assessed in the future. A stocktake of existing relevant data sets and a gaps analysis of existing baseline data have been undertaken. The Data Gaps Overview is available from the Secretariat by request. A priority is to fill the data gaps so that quantitative analyses on climate change responses can be undertaken in the future.
Projects demonstrating the results and integration of applied research will be considered. The assessment panel will seek to balance the level of investment across priority areas.
6. What activities are not eligible for funding?
Government grant funding will not be provided for:
Projects that look at non production forests
Capital expenditure for the purchase of assets such as office furniture and equipment, motor vehicles, computers, printers, photocopiers, construction, renovations and utilities
Any cost incurred prior to the commencement date of a Funding Deed with the Commonwealth
Staff relocations costs
Administration/overhead and infrastructure costs
Travel and living expenses
Hospitality/catering costs
Costs involved in the purchase/upgrade of software including licences
Costs associated with the protection or patenting of intellectual property
Feasibility projects/studies
Costs associated with market research for products or research carried out by surveys to assess the size of the market and/or the price of a particular service or product
Costs associated with activities of a distinctly commercial or proprietary nature that are aimed at selling or attracting investment
Costs associated with product development and the building or production of commercial prototypes
Marketing campaigns
Projects funded solely by other Australian Government programs.
Expressions of interest close on 20 August 2009