Soil carbon 'a data free zone': Farm Institute
How our trading scheme is starting to bite: NZ climate minister
Thwaites calls for changes to NEM rules
'No excuse' for new developments not to consider co-generation
'We prefer sub-prime mortgages to biosequestration': super company
Soil carbon 'a data free zone': Farm Institute
Soil carbon is a policy area "inhabited by a lot of enthusiasts spruiking and selling a lot of products", Australian Farm Institute executive director Mick Keogh told the climate and business conference in Sydney.
"It is, in many respects, a data-free zone."
Keogh, who was responding to a question on the Coalition's 'direct action' focus on soil carbon, said he was "very nervous about some of the projections and some of the promise that is associated with that particular area".
"I think hard science suggests performance in that area is nowhere near the sort of level that is anticipated," he said.
"I guess the advantage of a large incentive fund like that is that it does give people a chance to try stuff and have a go," Keogh said.
"But a lot of questions remain unanswered, I think, around that whole soil carbon area. I am not sure they would be solved in the short term."
How our trading scheme is starting to bite: NZ climate minister
New Zealand's emissions trading scheme might have a modest carbon price, but it is already triggering desirable changes in the economy, New Zealand's climate minister Nick Smith said.
"The key parts in which I think we are seeing the impacts of the price signal is firstly in the energy sector and in terms of long-term investment decisions," he told the conference.
"There has been quite a distinct change in the investment proposals that are coming forward from the energy sector in terms of meeting New Zealand's growing electricity needs," he said.
Smith said small and medium-sized companies that currently rely on coal-fired boilers and are "bearing the brunt" of rising coal prices are also making changes.
"They are making decisions to convert to wood waste [and] some of them are looking at geothermal energy as an option," he told the conference during a Q&A session.
(See minister's speech to the conference)
Electricity market rule changes needed - Thwaites
Reforming National Electricity Market regulations is critical to unleashing the potential for localised energy generation, namely cogeneration and smaller-scale renewables, according to ClimateWorks Australia chairman John Thwaites.
"We know that local supply of electricity can reduce emissions and at the same time reduce the call on capital for system upgrades," he told CE Daily.
It would "make sense" for electricity distribution companies to be part of some of these projects, he said.
However, "currently they would lose money by doing that", because existing NEM rules act as a "disincentive" for their involvement, he said.
'No excuse' for new developments not to consider co-generation
There is "no excuse" for failing to investigate cogeneration for projects like new townships and shopping centres, Origin's policy and sustainability general manager Carl McCamish told the climate and business conference.
And those who look into it are more than likely "to go ahead", he said.
"There are a lot of occasions when it should be being done and it is not," McCamish said.
However, retrofitting cogeneration into existing facilities can be "really hard", he told the conference.
'We prefer sub-prime mortgages to biosequestration': super company
There is plenty of scope for the superannuation industry to back clean economy investments but they "don't understand" the investment opportunity, according to Andrew Grant, CEO of carbon sink forestry company CO2 Australia.
Grant gave the conference the example of his involvement in a pre-global financial crisis pitch to one super company.
"It narrowed down to two investment options. One was a biosequestration [project] with an offtake agreement. The other was a financial product.
"And they felt they understood the financial product and were more comfortable with the risks and returns and chose that," he said.
"That was sub-prime mortgages."
