Bidding has opened in the ninth Emissions Reduction Fund auction and will run until 5pm tomorrow (July 25).
Rebranded as the Climate Solutions Fund, the Emissions Reduction Fund was initially brought in by the Abbott Government in 2014.
The Clean Energy Regulator purchases emissions reductions through a carbon abatement purchasing process. This process can include a reverse auction, tender or other process.
Emissions reduction purchases will be in the form of Kyoto Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs). The regulator will make these purchases through a carbon abatement contract, at a price determined through the auction, which will be a pay-as-bid reverse auction.
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The Clean Energy Regulator holds reverse auctions twice a year, with the two-day auction aiming to pay farmers and businesses to cut carbon pollution to help reach emissions reduction goals.
The Australian reports that while the Coalition describes the Emissions Reduction Fund as highly successful, consultancy RepuTex says the number of carbon credits contracted under the scheme has fallen from highs of 51 million in 2015 to less than four million at the last auction in December last year.
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