Source for graphic as in footnote 2 below, based on data by the Clean Energy Regulator.
Australia's premier greenhouse gas emitters
A number of different reports in early 2019 reveal different aspects of Australia’s greenhouse gas problem. According to a Federal government quarterly report published in February, in the 12 months to September 2018, Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reached their highest levels on a quarterly basis since the June quarter of 2011, thanks mainly to increased pollution from the liquefied natural gas export sector which “overwhelmed ongoing falls from power plants”. [1]
During the relevant period, the report said:
A separate report issued by the Clean Energy Regulator[2], differently nuanced, found that:
So, based on the Clean Energy Regulator’s most recently available data, the largest emitters for 2017/8 were:
During the relevant period, the report said:
- Australia emitted 536 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent, 0.9 per cent or 4.6 million tonnes more than the previous year, and LNG exports rose almost a fifth, contributing to rises in both industrial and so-called “fugitive emissions”, those escaping as a result of a company’s normal activities.
- Brown coal consumption dropped by 6% and gas-fired generation fell 26.6%, the report said. However, a separate report showed emissions from NSW's black coal-fired plants topped 50 million tonnes for the first time since 2012-13.
- Emissions from stationary energy, such as in the LNG and steel industries, rose 5.8% in the 12 months to September 2018, and so-called fugitive emissions, such as from gas escaping from LNG facilities and coal mines, rose 7.3%.
- Transport emissions - the third largest source - rose 2 per cent, while those from drought-hit agriculture fell 3 per cent.
- Land use changes, such as from land clearing, eased 0.3%. In NSW, black coal-fired power stations increased their emissions by 550,000 tonnes to 50.3 million tonnes of CO2 for the first time since 2012-3..
A separate report issued by the Clean Energy Regulator[2], differently nuanced, found that:
- coal-fired power companies were Australia's largest polluters, dominating the list of the top 10 biggest carbon emitters, and the level of scope 1 emissions, those created directly from a company's activity stayed “broadly flat” year on year at 336 million tonnes.
- However, the top 10 polluters now account for a greater proportion of these emissions, with 50.2% in 2017-18, up from 49.7% the previous year.
- The electricity generation sector accounted for more than half of all scope-one emissions, although emissions fell from 176 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2016-17 to 169 million tonnes in 2017-18 with the closure of the Hazelwood coal-fired power plant and greater energy efficiency at power stations.
- Such reductions as have been made were largely written off by the booming West Australian LNG industry, which saw its emissions increase by 4.1 million tonnes. "The fact the scope-one emissions are still increasing, by 0.8 million tonnes, while there is a simultaneous large reduction in electricity sector emissions of 6.8 million tonnes, or 4%, points to the dire need for decarbonisation policies and strategies in the non-electricity energy sector".[3]
So, based on the Clean Energy Regulator’s most recently available data, the largest emitters for 2017/8 were:
Glencore was one of the few companies to slip out of the top 10, having reduced its emissions levels from 9.7 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 6.9 million tonnes in 2017-18.
And if we look forward 12 months, very little has changed:
And if we look forward 12 months, very little has changed:
[1] Source: Peter, Hannam, "Annual emissions keep rising as gas jump counters power sector drop", 1 March 2019: https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/annual-emissions-keep-rising-as-gas-jump-counters-power-sector-drop-20190228-p510wu.html
[2] Source: Cole Latimer, "Power companies top list of nation's biggest emitters", SMH 1 March 2019: https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-dirty-top-ten-these-are-australia-s-biggest-polluters-20190228-p510u5.html
[3] Melbourne University "energy expert", Dylan McConnell cited in Ibid.
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