The Carbon Economy
February 25, 2009
Moving Australia into the low carbon lane will mean economic change of a sort that comes around only once a generation.
It means, in effect, creating an imaginary, parallel economy that trades in something which will never exist – tonnes of carbon not emitted – alongside the ‘real’ economy of things and services. It means pricing something that has not been priced before, create generating carbon dollars where none existed.
Before a single tonne can be traded however, an entire infrastructure has to come into being. Consultants, technicians, financiers, strategists and a broad variety of carbon professionals are flocking into an industry with huge potential. It is boom time in carbon town.
How big is the market?
Australian emissions are estimated at about 450 million tonnes annually. Even at a relatively modest carbon price of $20 a tonne (the EU is pricing carbon at about euro 25 a tonne at the moment) that adds up to $9 billion market in carbon, much of which will be traded, launching in just a few years.
None of that counts counting the opportunities internationally. With international trading possible under the Kytoto Protocol – using clean development mechanism (CDM) and Joint Initiatives (JI) – the market for carbon abatement is effectively infinite. Read more