An Australia-first carbon calculation engine for the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors is set to launch this month, with hopes the tool could be a game-changer for farmers grappling with carbon accounting.
The Agricultural Innovation Australia (AIA) Environmental Accounting Platform (EAP) brings a range of carbon calculators together on a digital platform, with most if not all standard agricultural commodities covered.
AIA CEO Sam Brown said the platform would simplify the process for farmers who found carbon accounting "cumbersome" and "confusing".
"We have designed it in a way, not only the engine itself but the IT infrastructure, to bring everything into one location," Mr Brown said.
"We've wrapped it with the governance processes to allow it to become that definitive carbon engine."
The engine could be especially beneficial for mixed producers to complete their commodity baselines in a one-stop shop, rather than across several separate calculators.
The carbon calculators used in the AIA EAP are consistent with the industry standard tools offered by the University of Melbourne's Primary Industry Climate Challenges Centre Greenhouse Accounting Frameworks for Australian Primary Industries (GAF Tools).
AIA EAP technical advisory panel chair and University of Melbourne Professor Richard Eckard said standardising the tools would help producers get a better grasp of their carbon footprint.
"The AIA EAP has been developed to move with the changes of our rural industries in that we are able to evolve the model to accommodate new factors, including mitigations, as well as add new and additional calculators as needed, including emerging accounting frameworks such as natural capital," Professor Eckard said.
An independent impact evaluation conducted by Marsden Jacob Associates found the efficiencies created by the research, development and maintenance of a single, common platform would deliver net benefits of close to $84 million to shareholders, as well as a benefit to cost ratio of almost 17 to 1.
Rural industries could save more than $50 million, with a comprehensive platform 11 times more cost effective than commodity-specific calculators, according to the evaluation.
The AIP EAP will go live in early May, with producers encouraged to reach out to their existing providers to get their hands on the new tool.
Smaller producers will be able to get access through RDCs who have invested in the project.
Mr Brown said it was part of the strategy to update the engine as both the carbon market and the science behind it evolved.
"We already can see that people are wanting new functions, features, new mitigations that are coming through, so we've got a really important job to stay on pace with that science," Mr Brown said.
"We've got this great engine now that has been built to deploy new science in a consistent way, and that's a remarkable step forward when you look at around the world.
"In the case of New Zealand, they've got 11 different calculators in the market. We've sought to address that and produce one."
