Australia’s pathway towards net zero emissions is being gridlocked by government legislation in parts of Western Australia, according to pastoralists attempting to host carbon sequestration and green energy projects on their properties.
Key points:
- Pastoralists say green land use proposals on their properties are being hampered by red tape
- Both the state and federal governments say they want to have net zero emissions by 2050
- Pastoralists are appealing for governments to sort out their red tape before it is too late
Simon and Caroline Thomas signed up to have a Human Induced Regenerative (HIR) carbon project on their property, Marron Station, in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region more than a year ago with Green Collar Carbon.
Despite managing the land as a carbon project, they’re yet to receive any money from generated Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) due to what Mr Thomas said was a gridlock of state and federal government legislation.
Green hydrogen test case
Complicating the situation in the Gascoyne is a proposal for a third land use alongside carbon and livestock grazing.
Province Resources is proposing to build 3,000 wind turbines on pastoral lands for its planned $25 billion green hydrogen project near Carnarvon.
The project would need to coexist with the carbon projects on properties such as Thomas’s Marron Station.
To get the project underway, Province Resources requires security of land access through a land lease with the WA Government – but it’s yet to be received.
Mr Thomas said both green land uses could and should co-exist alongside his livestock, but because carbon abatement projects were regulated by commonwealth legislation and hydrogen by the state under the Lands Act, both projects had not progressed and were essentially gridlocked by red tape.
“It’s impossible for the departments to make a decision because of the complexity of the scenario, but in saying that I think they’re over thinking the whole thing,” he said.
“Province wants to do what we call a cookie cutter lease arrangement whereby they don’t actually lease big, solid blocks of country, but rather only the areas that they’re going to have access tracks or the actual turbines themselves.
“By doing that, it actually allows both the pastoral operation and also the carbon projects to co-exist with, with the project that they are proposing.”
He said the state government was concerned about exposure to the risk of litigation by Green Collar or Province.
“So they’re preferring to basically sit on their hands and not make a decision,” he said.
Mr Thomas said the carbon projects would be protected from fires by access tracks and earth pads made for wind turbines, and they would generate another income stream for pastoralists, who are currently struggling with dry seasonal conditions and poor livestock prices.
Mr Thomas said both state and federal governments needed to collectively review legislation and work to allow shared green land use.
There are numerous green hydrogen projects planned for WA, but Province Resources has some of the more advanced project planning.
In a statement, David Frances from Province Resources said the land uses could coexist.
“We have said from day one that our green hydrogen project can coexist side-by-side with both carbon farming and pastoral activities, and we believe this to still be the case.”
Coexistence and consent
For HIR carbon projects to become unconditionally registered with Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator and return funds for ACCUs, HIR carbon projects must gain written consent from other eligible interest holders in the land, including banks, state and territory crown land ministers, and any registered native title body corporates.
Figures obtained from the regulator show there are 99 ACCU scheme projects registered in Western Australia under the Human Induced Regeneration method. Just 36 of these have reached unconditional registration.
HIR carbon projects involve managing native vegetation to encourage regeneration. It was Australia’s most popular carbon scheme, but questions were raised over its effectiveness, and it was eventually scrapped in September this year, meaning no new projects could be registered.
Green Collar Carbon is developing a number of carbon farming projects across WA. It has achieved coexistence with mining companies, but coexistence with hydrogen was a new challenge as it is a relatively new land use and fell under the Lands Act rather than mining.
“We are working constructively with all interest holders including the WA Government to finalise consent processes so projects to start generating credits,” Green Collar said in a statement.
“We are very optimistic about the contribution that carbon farming can make to Western Australia’s regional economy and the important environmental outcomes that these projects deliver.”
Green Collar Carbon does not yet have state government consent for all projects in the Gascoyne and has not received formal consent from traditional owners.
Beyond the Gascoyne, the consent requirements for carbon projects set by the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 have caused concern for some carbon project developers, with at least one company contacting the regulator expressing serious concerns about the difficulty in gaining consent from Indigenous groups, and this delay this has caused some carbon projects from progressing.
Carbon projects can remain conditionally registered for five years before they expire. In the Gascoyne, some projects have been waiting for three years so far.
The WA Department of Lands said it would not comment on contractual arrangements between third parties.
Both the federal and state governments have ambitions to be net zero by 2050.
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