Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER) this week issued more than half a million Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), taking the total number issued since 2011 past 20 million.

The offsets were initially issued under the Carbon Farming Initiative and eligible to cover up to 5% of emissions for the companies covered by Australia’s carbon price.

But after the government binned the carbon price in 2014, the ACCUs are now issued under Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund, which the country uses to meet its target of cutting GHG emissions to 5% below 2000 levels by 2020.

The regulator this week issued over 500,000 ACCUs to waste firm EDL, which sells offsets to the ERF from 11 landfill gas projects.

In addition, a number of vegetation and regeneration projects were also issued ACCUs this week, the regulator said Friday, without specifying how many.

“Reaching this milestone shows the Emissions Reduction Fund is accelerating carbon abatement in Australia,” said Chloe Munro, chair of the CER.

“During 2012, the first full calendar year of the Carbon Farming Initiative, the Clean Energy Regulator issued only 350,000 ACCUs. In comparison, in 2015 under the Emissions Reduction Fund, nearly eight million ACCUs were issued,” she added.

Through the first two ERF auctions the government signed contracts to buy nearly 93 million ACCUs over the next decade, at a total price of A$1.2 billion ($852 million).

The next auction is scheduled for Apr. 27-28.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com

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