Thursday, October 15, 2009

BP signs Aussie deal to offset carbon emissions by planting 10 million eucalyptus trees

My only hope is that they plant these trees where the changed Australian climate can support them.

By Asa Wahlquist | October 15, 2009

EUROPE'S second-largest oil company, BP, has hired Perth-based Carbon Conscious to plant 10 million gum trees in Australia to absorb greenhouse gas emissions as companies prepare for the introduction of climate change laws.

The deal sent Carbon Conscious shares soaring 10 per cent to close at 44c.

The company will begin planting trees on marginal farmland in 2010, at an initial cost of $2.5million.

It is the second major deal for Carbon Conscious, which confirmed an agreement with Origin Energy in July to plant $26m worth of trees over three years.

The trees "sequester" carbon dioxide, pulling it out of the atmosphere and storing it.

Carbon Conscious chief executive Peter Balsarini said the mallee eucalyptus trees would be planted on working farms.

"We go to farmers and we look for their marginal, less productive country," he said.

This included land that had been over-cleared or affected by salinity, Mr Balsarini said.

"We are looking at preventing salinity by getting our tree roots into the water table and lowering it. It has risen because of the over-clearing of the land," he said. Carbon Conscious became an accredited provider under the federal government's Greenhouse program last December. …

BP signs Aussie tree deal to offset carbon emissions

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