peter, you are right in making the distinction regarding GHG CALCULATIONS as opposed to the actual greenhouse gas balance. Unfortunately for Australian agriculture, the accounting rules that our government uses does not take into account any CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere by the animals or pasture they consume. With regards to carbon being locked up in hardwood for centuries, some may be if the biggest logs are keep in dry conditions, not exposed to the elements or fire. However most of it will be either burnt or decomposed over a time span of decades rather than centuries. Check out some of our national parks, fallen timber there would have a lifespan less than most humans, and anyway, when locking up carbon in trees is proposed as a means of minimising greenhouse gases, a century or two is meangingless, unless of course it is in relation to political terms of government.
