| Term | Meaning |
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| Australian carbon credit unit (ACCU) | One Australian carbon credit unit represents one tonne of verified carbon dioxide equivalent abatement. ACCUs are created from eligible offsets projects and issued by the Clean Energy Regulator in accordance with section 147 of the
Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CFI Act).
Transactions of ACCUs occur through the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units (ANREU). |
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| Australian National Registry of Emissions Units (ANREU) | The registry in which all transactions of Australian carbon credit units takes place. A seller must have an Australian National Registry of Emissions Units account to participate in the Emissions Reduction Fund. |
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| Baseline | The baseline is the reference point against which an entity’s emissions or electricity generation can be measured. A power station which generates renewable energy in excess of their baseline can earn large-scale generation certificates under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations 2001. An entity with obligations under the safeguard mechanism must keep its net emissions at or below its baseline. |
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Cal prices
| This is the forward trade price for large-scale generation certificates traded for the calendar year it is referring to. For example, Cal24 is the calendar year 2024. |
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| Carbon abatement | Carbon abatement refers to a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide through emissions avoidance or carbon sequestration. |
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| Certificate spot price | Certificate spot price refers to the secondary market price for small-scale technology certificates, large-scale generation certificates and ACCUs. |
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| Committed projects | Committed projects refers to large-scale renewable energy projects that have received all development approvals and reached a final investment decision. |
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| Emissions avoidance | Emissions avoidance refers to projects that generate abatement by reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions which would otherwise have occurred. For example, savanna fire management may reduce carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the frequency and extent of late dry season fires. Capturing and flaring landfill gases converts methane to carbon dioxide, which has lower global warming potential than methane. |
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| Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) | The Emissions Reduction Fund is a scheme where the Government purchases the lowest cost abatement (in the form of Australian carbon credit units) from a wide range of sources, providing an incentive to businesses, households and landowners to proactively reduce their emissions. |
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| Greenhouse gas emissions | Greenhouse gas emissions are gases which trap heat in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
Greenhouse gas emissions are measured as kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalence (CO2-e). This means that the amount of a greenhouse gas that a business emits is measured as an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, which has a global warming potential of one. |
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| Global warming potentials (GWPs) | Global warming potentials (GWPs) are values that allow direct comparison of the impact of different greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by comparing how much energy one tonne of a gas will absorb compared to one tonne of carbon dioxide. |
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| GreenPower | GreenPower is the only voluntary government accredited program for renewable energy in Australia. A joint initiative of the governments of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, GreenPower guarantees that any GreenPower-accredited energy sold by Australian energy retailers is renewably sourced. |
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| National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGER) | The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme is a single, national framework for corporations to report on greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and energy production. |
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| Optional delivery contract | An optional delivery contract is an agreement that gives proponents the right, but not the obligation, to sell up to a nominated quantity of ACCUs to the Commonwealth at a fixed price. Under optional delivery contracts, the Clean Energy Regulator is essentially underpinning the project with project proponents retaining the flexibility to sell ACCUs on the secondary market. |
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| Project proponent | A project proponent is an individual, a collective of individuals or an organisation with the legal responsibility for running a project under the ERF. This means they will hold the legal right to the project and will be issued any ACCUs created from project activities. |
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Safeguard Surrender
| Safeguard surrender is the statutory obligation to surrender carbon units above an entity’s baseline. |
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| Secondary market | The secondary market consists of financial institutions, traders, agents and installers; parties that are involved in the buying and selling of renewable energy certificates or ACCUs between private entities. For example, the price of an ACCU on the secondary market is the price at which private entities agree to trade ACCUs.
While the Clean Energy Regulator does not intervene in the secondary market, the Clean Energy Regulator’s Renewable Energy Certificate Registry facilitates transactions between parties. |
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| Scope 1 emissions | Scope 1 emissions are greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere as a direct result of an activity or activities at the facility level, such as fuel combustion for electricity generation or cement production. Scope 1 emissions, sometimes referred to as direct emissions, must be reported under National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting legislation. |
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| Scope 2 emissions | Scope 2 emissions are greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere as a result of a facility’s energy consumption. For example, if a facility is powered by coal combusted at a power station, the facility’s scope 2 emissions would include the gases emitted from that coal combustion. The facility’s scope 2 emissions are therefore the power station’s scope 1 emissions.
Scope 2 emissions, sometimes referred to as indirect emissions, must be reported under National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting legislation. |
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| Sequestration | Sequestration refers to the capture and storage of carbon dioxide. It typically refers to the absorption of carbon by ecosystems, including oceans, soils and vegetation. |
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Small-scale technology certificate
| A renewable energy certificate created by the owner of a small-scale system, or their installer, for the electricity generated or displaced by that system. While the number of certificates that can be created per system is based on several factors, including its geographical location, installation date, and other factors, one certificate is typically equal to one megawatt hour of eligible renewable electricity. |
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