JAPAN: Nuclear power company invests in Australian carbon sequestration plantation

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) – which supplies 265 TWh of nuclear-generated electricity to 26 million customers in Metropolitan Tokyo annually – will this year invest 180 million yen ($1.6 million) in a plantation in New South Wales. This will establish around 1,000 ha of plantation land, which will be extended to 40,000 ha within 10 years.

TEPCO sees the project as supplementary to its domestic attempts to reduce CO₂ emissions. The company estimates that at 10,000 ha the project will provide about 30,000 tonnes of Carbon equivalent annually for use as carbon credits.

The Kyoto Protocol recognises the sequestration of CO₂ in forest ‘sinks’ as an option for developed countries seeking to achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

In November 1997, the state of New South Wales established Carbon Sequestration Rights as a tradable property right and began to promote its plantation projects.