Step 5 - AgriProve will complete all the requirements for farmers to earn revenue from soil carbon projects, including reporting, management and sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs)
AgriProve will complete all the requirements for farmers to earn revenue from soil carbon projects, including reporting, management and sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). If an increase in soil carbon levels is recorded from soil sampling (see How are increases in soil organic carbon measured?), an offsets report is submitted to the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) to apply for ACCUs to be awarded to the project. Once ACCUs are awarded, the farmer can hold or sell the ACCUs. Farmers have several options for sale of ACCUs, including:
- sell at a long-term fixed price per ACCU
- sell at spot market price – AgriProve will coordinate this sale on the farmer’s behalf with an administration fee of 7.5 cents per ACCU
- hold for future sale or carbon neutral purposes –ACCUs are held in a Buyer’s Registry of Emissions Units Account with a brokerage fee of 37.5 cents per ACCU (payable once ACCUs are sold)
- sell to long–term alternative buyer such as the Queensland Government’s Land Restoration Fund (LRF). This option is only applicable under certain circumstances, such as when a farm is eligible and has applied to participate in the Queensland LRF. AgriProve can advise farmers on their eligibility for these alternative sale options.
AgriProve works with the farmer to sell the ACCUs to various buyers, including government and corporate organisations wanting to offset their emissions.
The per-hectare income from ACCUs will depend on the increase in soil carbon and the sales option chosen (see table). High-performing projects in high-rainfall zones may result in a 1% increase over a 10-year period. Depending on the scale of the project, this can equate to values up to $15,000 per project.
All soil carbon projects are audited by the CER the first time they generate ACCUs, and this cost is covered by AgriProve.