greenhouse gas accounting for the land-based sector - annette cowie

Annette Cowie, Richard Eckard, Sandra Eady

Greenhouse Gas Accounting

for the land-based sector

UNFCCC reporting

Kyoto Protocol Accounts

Inventory

Emissions trading

Mandatory: European, NZ Emissions trading schemes NSW GGAS

Offset projects

International: Kyoto Protocol Clean Development

Mechanism Voluntary Carbon Standard etc

Australia: National Carbon Offset Standard Carbon Farming Initiative

Life cycle assessment – Carbon footprint

Emissions and removals

Inventory reporting

UNFCCC

All countries

GHG accounting

Kyoto Protocol

Annex I countries

Sectoral boundariesNational scale

IPCC Guidelines

International context

Offsets

CFI etc

Businesses

LCA

Carbon labels

Products or organisations

Cradle to grave boundariesFarm scale

Scheme Guidelines, Standards

Emissions reduction, removal enhancement

Industry context

Inventory: What matters?

Purpose: Assess contribution, compliance

• Conservative

• Consistent

• Reflect anthropogenic drivers

• Accurate?

Inventory

National carbon accounting system

LCA/Carbon footprint: What matters?

Purpose: Inform consumers, compare products, identify opportunities for mitigation

• Consistent

• Right incentive

• Accurate

Pip Brock, I&I NSW, preliminary data for illustrative purposes only

Offset projects: What matters?

Purpose: Quantify abatement, ensure integrity

Transport

Soil amendment

Pyrolysis to biochar and

syngas

Distribution of biochar

Distribution of energy carrier

Energy service (heat, electricity)

Biomass residue

Biochar system

Transport

Biomass residue

Fossil energy/carbon

source

Extraction

Conversion to energy carrier

Distribution of energy carrier

Energy service (heat, electricity)

Soil amendment

Fertiliser manufacture

Transport

Composting

Reference system

Distribution of compost

Distribution of fertiliser

Carbon Farming InitiativeNational Carbon Offset Standard

Commence July 2011

Abatement activities generate credits for trade inDomestic voluntary marketInternational voluntary and compliance

markets

Carbon Farming Initiative

Possible projects

Kyoto sinks: reforestation

Kyoto emissions reduction: eg landfill, manure management, livestock methane, nitrous oxide from fertiliser

Non-Kyoto activities#: eg soil carbon management, avoided deforestation, savanna burning

#Excluded from Australia’s Kyoto Protocol accounts

Offset projects: What matters?

CFI Integrity standards: Offset projects must be

Additional

Measurable and Verifiable

Permanent

Conservative

Internationally consistent

Supported by peer-reviewed science

And must avoid leakage

Assessed by Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee

Additionality

Is it new abatement? (“Abatement should be “additional” to “business-as-usual” if it used to offset emissions”)

Required by legislation?

Common practice?

“Positive list”

Is it measurable?

Reforestation/ revegetation

Counting carbon in trees

Carbon makes up 50% of tree biomass

Predict carbon from allometric relationships

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Log dbh(cm)

log

Ab

ove

-gro

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d b

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ass

(kg

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Heaton PF

Ourimbah NF

Wabby NF

Mckenzie NF

Myall Lakes NF

Hills PF

Tooloom PF

Hannam Vale PF

Soil carbon management

cropland management

grazing management

organic amendments: eg biochar

No-till

Soil carbon measurement

Nitrous oxide emissions from soil Legumes in rotation

Timing of fertiliser application

Slow release fertilisers, nitrification inhibitors

Methane from ruminant livestock Herd management

Pasture composition

Dietary supplements

Breeding for net feed efficiency

Wind

Reflector

Reflector

FTIR

Quantifying abatementDo we need to monitor it?Balance accuracy against transaction costs • Cost-effective accounting

– Based on calibrated models (informed by baseline measurement?)

• Credit based on modelled estimate rather than measured impact of practice

N S WD P I

Is it verifiable?

Verification based on implementing land management practice rather than measured abatement

Is it permanent abatement?

“abatement should represent a permanent reduction in CO2 in the atmosphere”

NSW GGAS forestry offset: “100 year rule” Registration on title: forest carbon rights,

restriction on use

Kyoto CDM: temporary credits

CFI:Aggregation (pooling) across propertiesRisk of reversal buffer

Are ‘life cycle’ emissions considered? Emissions due to fossil fuel use, indirect (fertiliser,

herbicide), and non-CO2 greenhouse gases should be included

Increased soil N, by fertiliser, legumes or some organic amendments, will increase N2O - C credit for offset activities should be discounted for estimated increase in N2O

Are there offsite impacts? (Leakage)

Biomass depleted at another site?

Increased livestock numbers elsewhere?

Increased emissions offsite, attributable to the project, should be included

Dealing with uncertainty

Eg GGAS: discount for uncertainty “70% rule”Can only trade quantity for which 70% probability that actual sequestration exceeds traded C

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Pro

ba

bil

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Estimated Carbon Stock Values ('000 tonnes)

Dealing with uncertainty

Eg GGAS: discount for uncertainty “70% rule”Can only trade quantity for which 70% probability that actual sequestration exceeds traded C

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Estimated Carbon Stock Values ('000 tonnes)

70% of estimated valuesare greater than 1,700.

Will it be an effective incentive? Sufficiently attractive to encourage

participation?

Costs vs returnsRecord keeping“Monitoring”ReportingAudit

Long term liability

‘Factoring-Out’

Kyoto Protocol accounting:Intention to “factor-out” direct human-induced changes from changes due to indirect human-induced and natural effects

Give credit/debit for intentional actions

Average carbon stocks approach

Credit/debit based on long term modelled average

No monitoring

Minimises transaction costs

Rewards actions that give benefit, on average

Rewards all equally

Avoids need to “pay back” for natural fluctuations or trends

Conclusion

GHG accounting for Inventory, Offsets and LCA have different purposes, use similar data and methods but give different results due to different boundaries

Appropriate methods are a compromise between accuracy and cost; must provide the right incentive and preserve environmental integrity

Need for better understanding of uncertainty, better models of processes eg methane, nitrous oxide

Accounting for offsets:

Accept dynamic system

Manage risk of impermanence

Assign credit/debit for intentional actions

Reward action, modelled estimate, not measured abatement

Include whole system, all emissions, including off-site

Combination of baseline measurement and modelling may be optimal for quantification

Certainty and absolute accuracy not required

Minimise transaction costs so encourage participation, to maximise abatement