Savings, income to be made with carbon farming: govt

29/06/2012 - Carbon farming may sound like a lot of hot air but there's savings to be made for the typical farmer and an income if they think smart, the government says.

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Take dairy farming, for example.

Under the Carbon Farming Initiative, a dairy farmer can earn tradeable carbon credits and cut power bills by turning gas into a source of electricity or heat.

A typical system could involve putting a cover over manure ponds, which are commonly used by dairy farmers to manage liquid dairy manure produced in running their operation.

Methane and other harmful greenhouse gases emitted by the effluent as it decomposes are trapped under this cover.

These gasses are then either destroyed by burning them off, or via internal combustion engines and gas boilers which generate electricity and heat.

Farmers will be excluded from paying a direct carbon price on their emissions when the carbon price starts on July 1.

The government is providing a range of grants to encourage energy efficiency.

Former government climate adviser Ross Garnaut has said once carbon farming is part of an emissions trading scheme it could be worth $2.25 billion a year - the equivalent of another wool industry.

Source: AAP

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