FAQs
Explore Our Frequently Asked Questions
It is designed to provide clear, straightforward answers that help to educate and inform.
At Planfarm TerraWise, we understand that entering the carbon industry can raise numerous questions. From understanding carbon accounting and project methodologies, to navigating ACCUs, the emerging Nature Repair Market, and the evolving legislation that surrounds it all. Our FAQ section is designed to provide clear, straightforward answers that help educate and inform.
If you cannot find an answer to your question, please explore our resource library or reach out to one of our team members.
Carbon Accounting
What is a carbon account?
Carbon accounting, also known as greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, is the process of calculating the GHG emissions produced, directly or indirectly, from an enterprise’s activities. The process involves assessing the emissions produced by inputs (pre-farm, or scope 3), the amount of electricity used and the associated emissions (off-farm, or scope 2) and the amount of emissions produced on farm (on-farm, or scope 1).
For more information on carbon accounting, here is Toby Anderson, the carbon advisor.
What is meant by scope 1, 2 and 3?
All emission sources are categorised into one of the three scopes, which is in reference to where the emission originates from.
Why is carbon accounting important?
While previously knowing your farm emissions may have been a ‘nice-to-have’ or an ‘out-of-interest’, this is changing, with carbon accounting becoming part of business as usual and will have to be completed each year. This change aids in increasing transparency and accountability in all industries and aligns Australia’s major exporting partners.
While this change is being driven by legislative changes surrounding mandatory climate-related financial disclosures, completing a carbon accounting can present potential business opportunities for you. It is all about the amount of data, the more data you have the more informed your decisions you can make. Along with the ability to make more informed decisions, the additional data can also help build a powerful story that benefits your position in a sustainability-focused future market, unlocking new revenue opportunities and the potential to generate ACCUs.
For more information about why carbon accounting is important, here is Danielle Gale, TerraWise manager.
What is a carbon sink?
While a carbon source releases more carbon than it absorbs, a carbon sink absorbs more carbon than it releases. Soil, vegetation and the ocean are all natural carbon sinks. In a farming system, the soil, the existing remnant vegetation, and the re-established vegetation are all key carbon sinks that contribute to sequestration.
How can a carbon account inform a carbon project?
Completing a carbon project will allow you to earn ACCUs, which in turn can be used to offset your emissions. A carbon account can inform you how much and where you are producing GHG emissions, along with informing you how much carbon you are storing across your land. These two sides of your account can then show you how close or far you are from being carbon neutral or net zero. This difference, along with highlighting how much and where carbon is stored can inform on what size and type of carbon project you may want to undertake. If there is a minimum amount of ACCUs required to offset your emissions, then you will need to ensure that any project you consider is able to produce a sufficient amount of ACCUs to meet your requirement.
Carbon Projects
What is a carbon project?
A carbon project is any project that is registered under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme under one of the past or present approved methods. At Planfarm TerraWise we specialise in reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings and soil carbon projects.
What is a Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings (REMP) 2024 Project?
A reforestation project involves the establishment and ongoing maintenance of native vegetation. It can consist of a mixture of native trees, shrubs and understory species, or a mallee eucalyptus monoculture. As the planting grows, it sequesters carbon from the atmosphere into plant biomass and debris. Projects aligned with the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme can earn ACCUs through ongoing maintenance, monitoring, and measurement of these carbon stocks.
These projects can have additional benefits on top of ACCU generation, from making use of marginal or non-arable land, erosion and salinity control, shade and shelter for livestock and biodiversity improvements.
What is a Low-Risk Environmental Plantings 2024 Project?
A Low-Risk Environmental Plantings 2024 (LREP) project is a category established under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings FullCAM 2024 (REMP) method. A LREP provides alternative assurance options, removing the need for subsequent audits and potentially lowering the fixed costs related to a project. A LREP has additional requirements to be eligible.
What is a Soil Carbon Project?
A soil carbon project involves changing land management practices to store more carbon in the soil. These changes must be new or different from past practices, and the increase in carbon must be measurable. Projects aligned with the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme can earn ACCUs through ongoing maintenance, monitoring and measurement of soil carbon levels.
These projects have the additional benefit of resulting in healthier soils on your farm, often resulting in higher-yielding crops on top of the potential ACCU generation.
Do I have to include all my land in a project?
No, you can choose to include all of your land or only specific areas of your farm for carbon projects. Tailor it to suit your needs!
Can I have more than one project type on my land?
Yes, you can run multiple projects on your farm. However, currently, as of mid-2025, you can only run 1 project per piece of land, creating cost and logistical considerations, so careful planning is needed before making the decision to proceed. There is the potential for this to change with the introduction of the Integrated Farm Land Management method, which will allow multiple projects to occur on the same piece of land; however, this method is still in development.
What is the Integrate Farm Land Management method?
The Integrated Farm Land Management (IFLM) method is an ACCU scheme method that is still in development. Once approved, this method has the potential to allow landowners to run multiple carbon projects on the same piece of land, reducing costs and increasing benefits.
For more information on the Integrated Farm Land Management method, here is Danielle Gale, TerraWise manager.
Can I be recognized for plantings and activities I’ve already undertaken across the farm?
No, projects must include new activities to be considered qualified. Newness is a core principle that legislation governing carbon farming projects in Australia must adhere to.
How long will my carbon farming project run for?
You can choose for your project to have a 25 or 100-year permanence period, with your total project time running for typically 2-5 years more than your chosen permanence period. The choice is entirely up to you! We can support you through the trade-offs of each option.
What are permanence, crediting and reporting periods?
A Permanence Period refers to how long you commit to running and maintaining your project, beginning after you have been issued your first ACCU. You can choose between a 25-year and a 100-year permanence period.
The CER holds onto a percentage of your generated ACCUs for risk reasons, which changes depending on your permanence period. For a 25-year permanence period, this is 25%, while for a 100-year permanence period, it is only 5%. The increase in ACCUs earned must be balanced against the practical implications of maintaining a project for 100 years.
A Crediting Period is the amount of time that you are able to earn ACCUs for your carbon project. The crediting period will always go for 25 years, beginning at the registration of your project.
Reporting Periods are the length of time that you collect data to inform the abatement from your project. At the end of each reporting period, the data is packaged together and submitted to the CER as an offset report; this is how you are issued your ACCUs.
What is an ACCU?
ACCU stands for Australian Carbon Credit Unit and is generated through conducting a carbon project registered under Australia’s ACCU Scheme. An ACCU represents 1 ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) that has either been removed from the atmosphere or has not been emitted into the atmosphere as a result of the activities undertaken as part of the carbon project.
ACCUs have a financial value and as such can be sold as additional revenue, retained or inset (used within your enterprise) to reduce your enterprise’s carbon footprint.
For more information on ACCUs, here is Toby Anderson, the carbon advisor.
How can I earn ACCUs?
ACCUs can be earned by conducting any registered carbon project, aligning with any of the over 30 available methods. At Planfarm TerraWise we specialise in reforestation projects and soil carbon projects.
- For a reforestation project, an ACCU is earned by the planted vegetation sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. The amount of carbon sequestered is calculated using the software modelling program called FullCAM.
- For a soil carbon project, an ACCU is earned by implementing new activities that result in an increase in carbon sequestered into the soil. The amount of ACCUs issued is then calculated based on the change in soil carbon compared to the initial baseline, and average annualised project emissions created from management activities.
Regardless of which method you choose, you first need to design and register a carbon project with the CER. Once your project is registered, you can begin to conduct your project activities. You then submit offset reports every 6 months to 5 years to the CER, updating them on your project activities and progress. Only once you have submitted this offset report will you be issued your ACCUs based on your report. You continue to submit offset reports until the end of your crediting period.
For more information on earning ACCUs, here is Eloise Boland, the carbon advisor.
What can I do with ACCUs?
Once you have been issued your ACCUs, you have three options for what you can do with them.
- You can simply hold onto them. Having ACCUs on can be seen as
- You can sell them on the market to make an economic return on your project, creating an additional revenue stream.
- You can choose to inset/retire them. This means that you use the ACCU to offset the emissions produced by your own enterprise.
The value of the ACCU market is has been increasing since its conception, with it being valued at over $1 billion by the end of 2024. ACCUs can be sold to either government or private buyers, often referred to as the ‘secondary market’. The value of an ACCU fluctuates, however, buyers have shown to be willing to pay more for credits that are considered ‘high-integrity’ – this includes ACCUs issued under a soil carbon or reforestation project.
How does baseline sampling work?
Baseline sampling is the first soil test you do as part of a soil carbon project. It measures starting soil carbon levels so future increases can be tracked. You can sample before full registration, but only after submitting your project application.
For more information on baseline sampling, here is Eloise Boland, carbon advisor.
Legislation
What is the Safeguard Mechanism?
The Safeguard Mechanism is a policy that caps emissions from the largest emitters in Australia. Facilities that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year must steadily reduce their emissions each year. Some sectors that are difficult to decarbonise may not be able to reduce their emissions, in which case they can buy ACCUs to make up the difference. Importantly, other forms of carbon credits can’t be used under the safeguard mechanism. We are still in the very early stages of the safeguard mechanism, and the need for abatement is set to increase out to 2030 and beyond.
What is mandatory climate related reporting?
The government has taken a staggered approach, grouping businesses into three groups.
Reporting on scope 1 and 2 for Group 1 began as of January 1st 2025, with scope 3 reporting beginning in 2026. Farmers are included in these companies’ scope 3, meaning that farmers inevitably become part of the reporting process as their banks, insurance companies and buyers seek farm emissions data to meet their reporting obligations.
For more information on mandatory climate-related reporting, here is Danielle Gale, TerraWise manager.
Read https://planfarm.com.au/farm-smarter-not-harder-why-tracking-emissions/
What is the ACCU Scheme?
The Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme is a scheme by the federal government that provides methods for people to run projects that result in reduced carbon emissions or storing increased amounts of carbon from the atmosphere.
What is the CER?
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) is the government body responsible for the administration of the Schemes to measure, manage, reduce and offset emissions in Australia, including the ACCU Scheme and the Nature Repair Market Scheme.
Learn More
If you are ready to explore your carbon potential or would like to know more about how your business fits into this growing industry, get in touch with a member of our team or sign up to TerraWise Insights today!
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