Forestry Tasmania’s Own Data Shows They Are Not ‘Carbon Neutral’

There is no doubt Forestry Tasmania store a lot of carbon on behalf of the people of Tasmania. They also harvest, sell and burn a lot of carbon. For the purpose of deciding the validity of Forestry Tasmania’s claim that they are ‘carbon neutral’, we do not need to know how much carbon is stored. We only need to know how much carbon is added and taken away from this store on a yearly basis. It comes down to two numbers. It’s a simple ratio. The numbers are:

TOTAL CARBON HARVESTED (includes waste) = 1.2 million tonnes of carbon (1)
TOTAL CARBON ADDED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE = 720,000 tonnes of carbon (2)

As you can see more carbon is taken away than is absorbed from the air in the current time frame (2007 onwards).
These numbers were well concealed in FT’s data. They were not meant to be found.
The first number was split into a total log harvest component and a total residue component.
Basically the whole harvesting operation.
It was given as tonnes of CO2. This had to be converted to tonnes of carbon using the magic carbon number 3.6. Divide an amount of CO2 by this number to get carbon, or multiply an amount of carbon to get CO2 by the same number.
The ‘added from atmosphere’ number appears in FT material as the amount their forests absorb from the atmosphere annually. This number will certainly disappear from FT’s published material. There are strong commercial reasons not to disclose this information.

FORESTRY TASMANIA’S VOODOO CARBON ACCOUNTING METHOD.
FT spend a lot of time and money working-out how long carbon stays in products sourced from their forests. They call it ‘Life Cycle Analysis’. Its total rubbish, because when you buy a table or a house, the carbon contained within it is YOUR CARBON not theirs. Forestry Tasmania are in the business of attempting to own the roof trusses and wall frames of your house so they can call it a stored carbon asset. I call it ‘Voodoo Carbon Accounting’.
The fact is, the moment Forestry Tasmania either sells or burns timber, then they lose it as a carbon asset. This is based on the common law concept of transfer of ownership.
When you buy something you are buying it’s entire molecular structure. ‘Voodoo Carbon Accounting’ is probably widespread, as businesses involved in carbon pollution try to hide the scale of their operations.

OTHER FINDINGS.
Forestry Tasmania are using their ‘non-commercial estate’ to offset carbon lost from their ‘commercial estate’ (MBAC report on FT carbon stocks p7) This looks like they are using trees along streams or other unharvestable areas to offset carbon from harvestable areas.
The FT commissioned MBAC report shows the ‘non-commercial estate’ is more efficient at storing carbon than the ‘commercial estate’. This contradicts Federal Government policy on carbon storage in plantations and replanted clear-felled forests.
I hope anyone following this trail will find the break-down of the carbon balance into a simple two-number ratio helpful. The CO2 to carbon conversion ‘magic number’ will be needed to interpret new data. The data was presented by FT in a manner so as ‘you can’t see the the carbon for the trees.’ Do not expect this to change soon.

(1) Data from ‘Questions On Notice’ in The Senate requested by Senator Bob Brown pages 1 and 2.
(2) Data from Forestry Tasmania’s ‘Carbon Brochure 27028’ and their web site here:
http://www.forestrytas.com.au/topics/2009/07/ft-s-carbon-sequestration-position

Read more here
Karl Stevens, West Tamar Talk