Program D: Science Applications and Outreach

An Overview of the 2001- 2002 Research Year and Prospects

Program D draws together the results of CRC research to provide advice for policy development, particularly on carbon accounting methodology, to undertake scenario analyses to quantify potential impacts of land management on carbon sequestration, and to undertake short term scoping studies. Considering that Projects D1 and D3 are new projects that commenced in the 2001-2002 reporting period, both with a small number of staff, progress in Program D has been substantial.
The major focus of Project D1 is the significant contribution of CRC scientists to the current IPCC process for development of Good Practice Guidance for carbon accounting in the LULUCF sector. These carbon accounting guidelines will provide the basis for reporting under the Kyoto Protocol. Project D1 coordinated the contribution from CRC scientists to the development of the Carbon Accounting Standard released by Standards Australia as an interim standard in June 2002.

Project D2 is developing scenario analysis tools to facilitate quantification of the extent to which reforestation, agricultural management and forest management can contribute to Australia’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The software tool Range-Assess which enables spatial analyses of impact of land management change on carbon stocks in the rangelands, has been completed, and is described in the first CRC Technical Publication, “Range-ASSESS: A Spatial Framework for Analysis of Potential for Carbon Sequestration in Rangelands”. Development of similar tools for agriculture and forestry is continuing.

Project D3 has been introduced to enable the CRC to respond to emerging issues in greenhouse science. It will undertake feasibility studies to investigate potential areas of research, respond to consultancy opportunities and complete short-term case studies. Initial work undertaken this year included the development of research plans to address the issue of non-CO2 greenhouse gases, and a short consultancy investigating the carbon sequestration potential of saltbush.