The Conservation Reserve could be one of the largest carbon sequestration programs on private U.S. land, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official said during a U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture subcommittee hearing on the benefits of soil erosion-reduction programs.

“Land enrolled in the (Conservation) Reserve will also reduce soil erosion by 400 million tons each year and has the potential to be one of the nation’s largest carbon sequestration programs on private lands,” said Robert Stephenson, acting deputy administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency, according to Reuters.

Eurelectric, a trade association representing European power companies in 27 countries, has committed to achieving a carbon-neutral power supply by 2050. Members jointly produce 2,500 TWh electricity per year, which is equivalent to over 70 percent of total European power generation.

Carbon-neutrality means reducing emissions and offsetting any unavoidable emissions, through a transparent and verifiable measuring process, so that the net calculated carbon emissions equal zero, stated Eurelectric’s president Lars G. Josefsson.

The Australian government faces increased opposition to its carbon trading scheme after it released legislation it hopes to pass by mid-year. The carbon pollution reduction scheme or CPRS calls for a reduction of carbon emissions by five percent of 2000 levels by 2020.

Described as the most sweeping cap-and-trade system in the world, the CPRS works by forcing companies to pay for their pollution through a permit system, which is aimed at encouraging companies to reduce their carbon emissions.

GE Consumer & Industrial plans to introduce a suite of “smart” appliances, or energy-management-enabled appliances, that are enabled to receive a signal from local utility companies that are participating in tiered rate programs to help consumers manage their peak energy usage. This will help shift some of the energy load from peak hours to other parts of the day to reduce the need to build new power plants, said Kevin Nolan, vice president of technology for GE Consumer & Industrial.