The fourth Emissions Reduction Fund auction is coming

The fourth Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) auction has recently been announced. This matters immensely for the waste and local government sectors.

So many quality projects are working hard behind the scenes to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Whether that’s a third bin diverting organics out of landfill and into a composting facility, a landfill gas extraction system that captures and destroys methane or new AWT systems, there is so much abatement happening in waste across Australia.

In fact, the waste sector is second only to vegetation in the amount of carbon abatement it creates.

All of the abatement projects in waste, irrespective of size, deserve a boost, and getting paid for carbon abatement through the ERF can provide that boost. That’s why MRA became the first and only waste consultancy registered to act as an aggregator of abatement projects.

We facilitate dealings with the Clean Energy Regulator, letting you concentrate on your project. To date, we have helped 75 projects secure a total of $60m in contracts abating 6,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e).

The last auction in April 2016 led to an average price for greenhouse gas emissions abatement of $10.23 per tonne of CO₂e. The fourth round will likely be one of the last, with just over $800m left to fund projects. That’s money helping to underpin the success of your project. The kinds of projects that are eligible include:

• introduction or expansion of an existing landfill gas capture system (with either flare or energy generation);
• introduction of a food organics and garden organics (FOGO) collection system or addition of food to an existing system;
• establishment of an advanced waste treatment facility;
• switching to biodiesel for vehicles;
• tree planting; and
• conversion of street lighting to low-emission technology.

Participating in the auction is, however, not straightforward and the red tape involved can sometimes make participation unattractive. This is where MRA can help.

I encourage you to get in touch. See how easy it is to get funding recognition for that waste diversion project you’ve been working on. Let us secure the money your project deserves.

The deadline for registering a project with the ERF is 4 October 2016, with the actual auction happening on 16 and 17 November.

So speak with us now, and you can get a quick idea of what sort of abatement credits your project can secure. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/DNY59