| The other day I listened to a presentation from the | | | | mitigation with the bonus of food production. |
| CEO of a company in the carbon game. Branching out | | | | No doubt you are thinking, 'Oh, but there has to be a |
| from bio-energy, this company has developed smart | | | | catch'. And maybe there is in the scalability, sources |
| technology to grow algae using the CO2 emitted | | | | of nitrogen, finding enough land next to power |
| from coal fired power stations. | | | | stations or many others we haven't conjured up. The |
| It was an impressive story. The algae do what algae | | | | point is though, that the combination of smarts, |
| do in high-tech plastic bags and convert carbon | | | | entrepreneurship and willing investors can be a |
| dioxide to plant material at a claimed rate of up to | | | | powerful tool when let loose on a problem. |
| 800 t per hectare (for comparison average wheat | | | | If business actions can fix the climate problem, then |
| yield in Australia hovers around 1.5 t per hectare). A | | | | why do we need policy? The reason is this. There |
| quarter of the algal biomass harvested is extractable | | | | are only a few courageous entrepreneurs and, |
| as vegetable oil and the rest as vegetable protein | | | | especially in Australia, even fewer risk taking |
| (dry pellets). The potable water byproduct is recycled | | | | investors. This means that the rest, the mainstream |
| back into the bags for the next batch of algae. | | | | who are risk averse and a tad timid, need help to |
| The list of salable items that can be manufactured | | | | solve the problem; and this is the role of policy. For |
| from the algal produce was endless. | | | | policy can provide support, encouragement rules for |
| If I were an investor, I would be muscling my way | | | | a social climate that help us help ourselves. |
| through the heavy hitters already camped outside | | | | Since the Australian government dumped its own |
| the company's offices, and buy whatever shares I | | | | Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, an emissions |
| could. Not surprisingly the owners see no need to sell | | | | trading solution to climate change, the issue that |
| shares in the company to the public. | | | | Prime Minister Rudd has called 'the greatest moral |
| And the thing was that this particular entrepreneur, | | | | challenge of our age', the media has talked of |
| with a genuine smile on his face, did not care one iota | | | | backflips and the taxi drivers have expressed their |
| about a carbon price, greenhouse gas emissions or a | | | | disappointment at broken political promises. All the |
| climate change policy. Why would he? He had salable | | | | people I have spoken to are just a bit depressed at |
| products (oil and protein) that a host of buyers | | | | it all because the public wanted action. |
| wanted, and he was making them from industrial | | | | These reactions to political weakness are inevitable |
| waste (CO2) that everybody wants to get rid of. He | | | | because we do need policy, we need it to give us |
| had found a great win-win. And when that happens | | | | confidence and in the case of climate change policy |
| it's all good, including in this case a powerful | | | | we need it now. |
| combination of greenhouse gas abatement and | | | | |