Ann: Passage of the Clean Energy Bill , page-2

12 October 2011
ASX ANNOUNCEMENT
For immediate distribution
CARBON CONSCIOUS A WINNER WITH PASSAGE OF CLEAN ENERGY ACT
HIGHLIGHTS

• Legislation passes House of Representatives – soon to pass Senate
• 2012 planting season planned to increase from 2,000 to 10,000 hectares

Carbon Conscious Limited (ASX: CCF), Australasia’s leading developer of forestry plantation projects to deliver carbon offset credits, expects to be a major beneficiary of the passage of the Clean Energy Bill 2011 through the House of Representatives and declared it as a major milestone in the birth of Australia’s new carbon economy.

With the passage of the Clean Energy bills through the House of Representatives and with the Senate expected to pass the package with a majority comprising Labor and Green Senators, the last major political obstacle to the introduction of an Australian carbon price has now been removed.

Mr. Steve Lowe, Executive Chairman of Carbon Conscious, said the passage of the Clean Energy Bill 2011 through the lower house was a great day for Australia’s carbon abatement industry and paves the way for substantial expansion of the Company’s carbon forest sink operations.
“The Board is currently examining a proposal to massively increase the size of the 2012 planting season from 2,000 to 10,000 hectares. We have 8,000 hectares of Mallee Eucalypt trees under management and are aiming to more than double this in the next planting season to accommodate the anticipated new demand for carbon abatement.

Carbon Conscious will be responsible for managing the largest carbon bio-sequestration investment projects in Australian history.”

The CSIRO has estimated that with a $20 per tonne price for carbon, carbon forest bio-sequestration projects have the potential to sequester 350 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2050. This equates to an abatement potential of $7 billion per annum. The Clean Energy Act mandates a starting price for carbon at $23 per tonne.

The passage of the Clean Energy Act will remove the final legislative hurdle to large scale investment in Australia’s carbon abatement sector. This provides a clear carbon pricing mechanism for Australia’s largest carbon emitters to purchase carbon credits on an open and transparent market from accredited suppliers such as Carbon Conscious.

International buyers are expected to make investments in Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) projects with the Australian carbon forestry industry likely to be the major beneficiary. Carbon credits will then be sold on domestic or international carbon markets. Carbon Conscious has existing commercial forestry contracts worth $45 million. It has close to $190 million worth of commercial forestry options.

Mr. Lowe added, “Over the past few years Carbon Conscious has been developing a pipeline of carbon farming projects with major Australian carbon emitters, and expects a number of those projects to be realised as a direct consequence of the passage of the Clean Energy Act 2011.”

Carbon Conscious operates plantation forests in Australia’s wheatbelt region and in New Zealand using low productivity or degraded farm land in low rainfall areas to plant native trees.

CONTACT: MEDIA
Mr Steve Lowe (Exec Chairman) Tony Dawe
(08) 9287 5600 Professional Public Relations (PPR)
[email protected] Tel: +61 8 9388 0944/ 0405 989 743

Carbon Conscious Ltd – Background
Carbon Conscious creates large scale carbon estates to produce carbon offset credits for the
Commonwealth Government’s Clean Energy Bill 2011 and under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI),
by planting Mallee Eucalypt trees; a native species perfectly adapted to the growing conditions of the
Australian wheatbelt.

Carbon Conscious Limited was listed on the ASX in May 2008, and currently has over 8,000 hectares
of Mallee eucalypt trees under management in Western Australia and operates extensive plantations
in New Zealand.
www.carbonconscious.com.au