KEEPING IT NEUTRAL
Yang Zhongyong, a farmer in Anji, a county known as the Kingdom of Bamboo in Zhejiang Province, would never have dared to imagine making money out of “thin” air. But this actually became a reality through the bamboo forest he had grown.
At the price for carbon quotas announced at China’s national carbon market in Shanghai on its opening day of July 16, Yang stood to gain more than 370,000 yuan ($57,831) from the carbon emission trading of his bamboo forest.
According to calculations, the average annual carbon emission reduction per hectare of a bamboo forest is about 6 tons. Yang’s land can reduce over 7,045 tons of carbon dioxide under his contract period.
He went on to use the quota as a pledge to secure a bank loan by the end of July. After receiving the loan, he hired a construction team to repair the roads running across his land—which had been wrecked by a recent typhoon.
“These actions enable bamboo forest managers to improve land quality, reduce carbon emission and increase income; it makes the ecological value of the forest become tangible. It subsequently has a demonstrative significance for bamboo production areas across
