WOOL is about to be promoted as a "carbon sink" or as a positive to the world's climate change woes.

Australian Wool Innovation is so committed to the promotion that it is lobbying for an invitation to next week's climate change conference in Copenhagen.

"We don't know whether we can get in, but at least we will be trying," AWI director and chairman of AWI's Wool Carbon Alliance, Chick Olsson, said.

The alliance, which was established last month, is counting on the fact that wool is 50 per cent carbon, which has been captured from the atmosphere.

Members of the alliance include AWI director Dr Meredith Sheil, Australian Wool Growers Association chairman Martin Oppenheimer, former WoolProducers executive member Geoff Power, Stud Merino Breeders Association president Tom Ashby, WoolProducers executive member and NSW grower John Manwaring and International Wool Textile Organisation president Gunther Beier.

Former AWI director Peter Sykes and former AWI production research manager Dr Paul Swan have also been co-opted to the alliance.

Mr Olsson said a kilogram of greasy wool contained or stored the equivalent of 1.3kg of CO2.

For AWI, wool's ability to store carbon could provide a welcome diversionary promotion from the mulesing issue.

To this end, AWI is about to mount a major research investment in what Mr Olsson described as "filling in the scientific gaps" from the time a lamb is born to the sale of retail garments.

One of the research "gaps" and currently a big negative in the climate change equation is that a sheep, according to international authorities, is supposedly responsible for belching annually 7kg of methane or 150kg of CO2 equivalents.

For Australia to refute this evidence would require at least two peer-reviewed research findings. Mr Olsson said there was evidence that methane is broken down within 10 years and as such is not a big a problem.

Mr Olsson said the alliance was also hoping to tap into the scientific work of NSW soil carbon campaigner Dr Christine Jones.

In the meantime, the wool carbon research is likely to emerge as a major beneficiary of AWI's review of its operational budget early next year.