Last week, the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, the Hon Angus Taylor MP announced priorities for method development for the Emissions Reduction Fund:
- soil carbon
- carbon capture and storage
- biomethane
- plantation forestry
- blue carbon.
Emissions Reduction Fund project rules are known as “methods”. Project activities to reduce emissions or store carbon need to be covered by a method to receive Australian carbon credit units.
The Clean Energy Regulator will develop priority methods through a co-design process with industry, potential end-users, scientists, technical experts and the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee. The Clean Energy Regulator has a KPI to develop methods within 12 months of work starting on them unless intractable scientific or technical issues emerge.
The Clean Energy Regulator will also run co-design workshops with stakeholders as part of the method development process.
The setting of future method priorities will be determined by the Minister and will be informed by submissions from stakeholders on potential method priorities to the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. This will be an opportunity for stakeholders to propose new emissions reduction activities and provide information, such as abatement potential to inform the Minister’s method prioritisation process.
Visit Method development for more information about how methods are prioritised and developed.