A newly introduced bill in the US Senate provides additional congressional support for biochar projects to qualify for carbon offsets, as well as R&D funding for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for biochar production and utilization projects.
The Clean Energy Partnerships Act of 2009 was introduced November 4, 2009 by Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, along with five cosponsors--Senators Max Baucus (MT), Amy Klobuchar (MN), Sherrod Brown (OH), Mark Begich (AK), and Tom Harkin (IA). The bill is designed to ensure that any US domestic cap-and-trade bill provides maximum incentives and opportunities for the US agricultural and forestry sectors to provide high-quality offsets and GHG emissions reductions for credit or financial incentives. Carbon offsets play a critical role in keeping the costs of a cap-and-trade program low for society as well as for capped sectors and entities, while providing valuable emissions reductions and income generation opportunities for the agricultural sector. The bill specifically identifies biochar production and use as eligible for offset credits, and identifies biochar as a high priority for USDA R&D, with funding authorized by the bill.
Importantly, the Clean Energy Partnerships Act of 2009 assigns jurisdictional authorities to the Secretary of Agriculture for offsets and emissions reductions opportunities in the agricultural and forestry sectors, with the EPA Administrator in charge of other offset and emissions reductions opportunities. Within 1 year of enactment, the USDA Secretary is authorized by the bill to establish an initial list of project types eligible for inclusion in the domestic offsets program; biochar production and use projects are identified on the initial project list specified by the Congress.
The bill establishes an advisory committee to jointly advise EPA and USDA on scientific and technical advice for offset projects, including agricultural and forestry offset projects. Besides creating offset opportunities for the agricultural sector, the bill establishes a program that utilizes the proceeds from 2% of the allowance allocations to incentivize additional emissions reductions and increased sequestration from the agricultural and forestry sectors. Projects identified for support under this program include projects that are not otherwise economically viable, or projects types not yet mature enough to qualify for offset credits.
One of the bill's subtitles also amends a bioenergy program from the 2002 Farm bill to provide additional opportunities for bioenergy projects to enhance rural economic development and national energy security. The title would utilize .7% of allowance allocation proceeds to fund projects that qualify as biorefineries under this provision; some biochar production facilities might qualify for this program, depending on the bioenergy characteristics of the system.
An R&D title would fund additional research and demonstration projects for agricultural mitigation and adaptation activities relative to climate change programs, using the proceeds from 1.1% of allowance allocations. Biochar production and use as a soil conditioner are specifically identified as high-priority R&D programs for the Secretary to pursue. Along with 6 farm groups, IBI endorses this bill.
To read the full text of the bill, go to:
http://www.biochar-international.org...s/END09F94.pdf.
