Carbon farming at Kilcowera
In Australia, the federal government created a trading market for carbon. At Kilcowera we manage the land to allow the native forests of mulga trees to regrow after fires, drought, and clearing. The regrowth "consumes" a measurable amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide makes up 0.3% of the atmosphere, and is "plant food". Plants and algae absorb carbon dioxide, and combine it with water and energy from sunlight, and convert it to long-chain carbon molecules. This is what all living organisms, animals and plants, are made of.
Each ton of carbon dioxide that is absorbed is equal to one ACCU, an Australian carbon credit unit.
When a project is registered with the clean energy regulator, this consumption of carbon dioxide gas is considered to generate an ACCU. This is like a "currency" for carbon dioxide, like paper money.
ACCU's can be bought and sold in the ACCU market, which is like any other commodity market. When companies "offset" their carbon consumption, which is a legislated requirement of the "big polluters", such as energy companies and airlines, these companies and individuals buy "carbon credits", or ACCU's from ACCU producers such as Kilcowera. There are carbon trading companies who manage the carbon projects and coordinate the sale of ACCU's.
At Kilcowera, we generate ACCU's that offset the carbon production of a small city.
So in a big way, at Kilcowera we are part of the government's solution to becoming a carbon neutral world.