AginED
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FOR E FUTURIA G R R S! U PR EN E
Volume 90 I January 31st, 2022 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz/agined Are you a parent or teacher and want to receive AginED every week directly to your email inbox? Send us an email to sign up at agined@globalhq.co.nz
CA RBON Carbon Sequestration and Carbon credits Last week we explored what carbon is. This week we will delve into what carbon sequestration and carbon credits are and why they are such a hot topic currently. You may have been reading stories of a number of farms and land being sold for forestry planting and conversions so that they can claim carbon credits from carbon sequestration and also have heard about the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme. Let's have a look at what each of these things are exactly. What is carbon sequestration? Carbon sequestration secures carbon dioxide to prevent it from entering the Earth’s atmosphere. With the aim to stabilise carbon in solid and dissolved forms so that it doesn’t cause atmospheric warming. There are two main types of carbon sequestration: biological and geological. Biological carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon dioxide in vegetation such as grasslands or forests, as well as in soils and oceans. Soil: Carbon is sequestered in soil by plants through photosynthesis and can be stored as soil organic carbon (SOC). It can also store carbon as carbonates, these are created over thousands of years when carbon dioxide dissolves in water and percolates the soil, combining with calcium and magnesium to form “caliche” in deserts and arid soil. Carbonates are inorganic and can store carbon for more than 70,000
years, while soil organic matter can store it for several decades. Forests: Around 25% of global emissions are captured by plantrich landscapes like forests, grasslands and rangelands. When leaves and branches fall off plants or when plants die, the carbon stored either releases into the atmosphere or is transferred to the soil. Wildfires and deforestation contribute to the diminishment of forests as a carbon sink. While forests are commonly credited as important carbon sinks, grasslands and rangelands can be more reliable than forests. Unlike trees, grasslands sequester most of their carbon underground and in the case of fires the carbon stays fixed in the roots and soil instead of in leaves and woody biomass. There is also Geological carbon sequestration: This is the process of storing carbon dioxide in underground geological formations, or rocks. Typically, carbon dioxide is captured from an industrial source, such as steel or cement production, or energy-related source, such as power plants or natural gas processing facilities and injected into porous rocks for long-term storage. This type of carbon capture and storage allows for the use of fossil fuels until another energy source is introduced on a large scale. Obviously in New Zealand it is biological carbon sequestration that is currently under the spotlight. Now that we have an idea of what types of sequestration there are, let's look how that fits into the bigger picture. In New Zealand we have an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The ETS puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions. People or organisations involved with the Emissions Trading Scheme (land owners, businesses, or those with forestry rights) can earn credits for
According to a study conducted in the UK, in order to offset the CO2 produced by an average UK citizen's food consumption in one year, 70 new trees would need to be planted. To put this into context, just 30 minutes of watching Netflix on your TV or device each day requires nearly 60 trees to be planted to become carbon neutral.
absorb carbon dioxide (like planting or managing forests). When credits are earned they can then be: • Traded • Held on to • Surrendered back to offset activities that emit greenhouse gases (like burning fossil fuels) or reduced stored carbon (like harvesting trees) Emitters can also purchase credits to offset their emissions. To watch a short video on the ETS head to https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v= _ zFXuQoX6ps From the information in the 2016 video:
This table shows North Island and South Island lamb and mutton values for last week. SHEEP MEAT
1 What did the government allow some participants to do when the ETS was first introduced in NZ? 2 What is an NZU? 3 Why does the government not accept international units (CERs)? 4 The video states that they were on track to meet their emission targets in 2020. Do you think this happened? Why or why not? 5 Are we doing enough to meet the 2030 goals? Are we doing enough? Too much? Not the right things? We would love to hear your opinions, flick us an email at agined@globalhq.co.nz
1 In what island are schedules higher? 2 How does each compare to the previous year? 3 What is the percentage difference between the NI lamb schedule and the previous year? 4 The North Island is experiencing longer wait times at processors compared to the South Island, how is this showing up in the values on the table? Hint:compare with the previous week for both islands. 5 There is concern that the spread of omicron may cause even more backlogs at processors. Why would this have an impact and what would this do to prices?
New native forests either planted or naturally regenerated after 1989, can participate in either the forestry provisions of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) or the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative (PFSI). Do some research and answer the question below.
PODCAST CORNER: Feed Grass for Good is a sustainable podcast and each episode speaks with a different sustainable farmer or expert to discuss their lives, lessons and challenges in the field.
1 What is the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative (PFSI)? 2 What are the three main differences between the two programmes?
According to statistics from the Global Carbon Project average per person carbon emissions are as follows: • China - 7.4t CO 2 /person
• Canada – 14t CO 2 /person
• Australia – 15t CO 2 /person
• NZ – 6.9t CO 2 /person
• USA – 14t CO 2 /person
• UK – 4.9t CO 2 /person
The world average is 4.5t CO2/person
Episode 5 talks with Roderick Binney, the director and owner of Glenlea Beef in New South Wales, Australia. 1
What breed does Glenlea Beef breed?
2 What benefits does this breed have? 3 How does this breed differ in Australia than the original cattle from France? 4 What are the differences between grass-fed beef and grain-fed beef? https://farmersweekly.co.nz/s/podcasts/feedgrass-for-good