AN OVERVIEW OF AUSTRALIA’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS - and how to reduce them!!
Emissions Data
According to the latest figures available, in 2005 Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions totalled 559.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This represented an estimated 1.5% of the world’s total.
Australia’s Greenhouse Emissions, 2005
Sector |
Mt of CO2-e* |
% of total |
Electricity Generation |
194.3 |
34.7 |
Other Energy Production (mainly manufacturing) |
84.8 |
15.0 |
Agricultural Livestock |
62.1 |
11.1 |
Passenger Cars |
43.7 |
7.8 |
Forestry/Deforestation |
33.7 |
6.0 |
Coal, Oil and Gas Mining & Processing |
31.2 |
5.6 |
Other Industrial Processes |
29.5 |
5.3 |
Other Road Transport |
27.0 |
4.8 |
Soil Use and Burning |
25.8 |
4.6 |
Waste |
17.0 |
3.0 |
Domestic Aviation |
5.1 |
0.9 |
Rail & Domestic Shipping |
4.5 |
0.8 |
Total |
559.1 |
100.0 |
* Million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent
SOURCE: National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2005
Electricity
Electricity generation is by far the single largest contributor to our greenhouse emissions, and 92% of it is currently sourced from fossil fuels.
Black coal alone is used to produce 56% of our electricity.
Renewable energy sources, such as wind, hydroelectricity and solar energy contribute only 5% of the energy used in electricity generation.
It is difficult to get exact figures on how much electricity is used by households, and how much by commerce and industry. In 2005 Australia’s total electricity consumption was 215 billion kilowatt hours, and it is estimated that the average per capita residential use was about 3000 kilowatt hours per year. Using these figures, it is estimated that households account for only about 30% of electricity use.
Reducing our use of fossil-fuel based electricity is the most significant way to reduce our personal emissions. For example, it is estimated that 30% of domestic power consumption is used to heat water.
Putting a solar hot water heater on every roof in the country would have the same effect as taking 30% of all cars, trucks and buses off Australian roads permanently!
Almost all dwellings in Australia (99%) use electricity for power and/or heating. Gas is the second most important source of energy for Australian households and was used in more than half of households (58%) in March 2005, particularly in the gas producing areas of Victoria and Western Australia. Solar energy is primarily used by households for heating water and was used by 4% of Australian households in 2005. However in the Northern Territory 42% of all households in 2005 used solar energy to heat water. There is no reason why this can’t happen in other regions.
These measures are only the beginning. Australia’s greenhouse emissions figures clearly demonstrate that in order to make a real difference to our overall emissions, industry needs to make huge reductions in their use of fossil fuel-based power, and vast increases in efficiency of power use, as businesses and industry are responsible for the lion’s share of electricity-based emissions.
The Federal Government’s strategy in this area is to continue to support Australia’s coal industry, as it is such a huge export earner. Federal and State Governments have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the industry to examine geosequestration – storing carbon dioxide under the earth.
According to Friends of the Earth, geosequestration is an expensive, unproven and potentially dangerous solution to CO2 emissions that does not deal with the source of the problem. It will only, at best, provide an 8% reduction in emissions from electricity production by 2020, will lead to an increase in electricity costs, and will lead to an increase in the use of coal. Renewable energy technologies, on the other hand, are being successfully used today across the globe, and they only currently attract $15m of Federal Government subsidies!
It is critical that the $6b of government subsidies currently being paid to fossil fuel-based industries be re-directed into renewable energy.
Around 250 large energy users account for more than 60 per cent of total business energy use. Strict legislative requirements, incentives for using renewable energy and concerted consumer pressure on these 250 large users would have a dramatic effect on reducing overall emissions.
The potential for the use of solar, wind and thermal power in Australia is vast. We have space, sun, and a long coastline. The solar industry is poised for a rapid decline in costs of about 40% in the next 3 years that will make it a mainstream power option, according to a new assessment by the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Prometheus Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, has risen sixfold since 2000 and grew 41 percent in 2006 alone. Although grid-connected solar capacity still provides less than 1 percent of the world's electricity, it increased nearly 50 percent in 2006, to 5,000 megawatts, propelled by booming markets in Germany and Japan. Both Spain and the United States are also currently experiencing massive growth in this field.
Other Energy Production
Fuel combustion in mining non-energy commodities, manufacturing and construction industries accounted for 7.8% (43.7 Mt) of Australia’s national emissions in 2005. Fuel combustion in the residential, commercial and institutional sectors, together with fuel use by agricultural, fisheries and forestry equipment contributed 20.1 Mt or 3.6% of national emissions. These fuel combustion figures do not include road, rail, air and sea transport. Other contributors in this category include petroleum refineries (6.0 Mt), and military vehicles and combustion of lubricants (1.2 Mt).
Agriculture
Emissions directly produced by agricultural livestock produce an incredible 11.1% of Australia’s total emissions. These are the result of the digestion and manure decomposition of Australia’s cattle, sheep and other livestock.
When combined with deforestation, the burning of grasslands and the use of fertilisers, the agricultural sector as a whole produces over 20% of Australia’s total emissions!
There is a huge potential to immediately reduce emissions in this area.
Stopping deforestation is one of the most cost effective methods of reducing emissions. Most land is cleared to provide grazing land for livestock or to plant crops. While some states have introduced legislation to reduce land clearance, it is often difficult to enforce.
About 40% of all beef and about a third of all wheat produced in Australia is consumed here. As livestock contribute such a huge proportion of Australia’s emissions, and as the use of fertilisers creates substantial emissions, a reduction in the amount of meat consumed and a move towards organic food in Australia will significantly reduce emissions.
An explosion in the demand for meat products in Asia has led to a huge new market for Australia’s beef and lamb. It is important that measures are introduced to ensure that a reduction in local consumption does not simply result in more exports.
Road Transport
While road transport in Australia currently produces 12% of total emissions, over 93% of road transport is currently fuelled by petrol or diesel.
Many have embraced biofuels, fuels produced from plant matter, as the solution to this problem, as they produce significantly less emissions when combusted.
However there are significant problems with the use of biofuels, and they cannot be seen as the solution to transport emissions.
The global demand for biofuels has led to a huge increase in the destruction of forests worldwide. Most significantly, the demand for palm oil to produce biodiesel has led to the widespread clearing and burning of forests in Borneo, Sumatra and Papua New Guinea at a truly alarming rate. In Borneo alone, pristine and unique rainforest systems are currently being cleared at the rate of 300 football fields per hour!
The demand for feedstock to produce biofuels also puts huge pressure on already strained resources – land and water – and this reduces the resources available to produce food crops.
The biofuel industry has contributed to what economists are terming Ag-inflation. As demand for biodiesel and ethanol grows and the price for these products rises farmers replace traditional produce production with feedstock. In the US in spring 2007 approximately 30% more corn was planted to supply the ethanol industry than the previous year. The price rise in corn has led to riots in Mexico where the staple food of tortillas has become an expensive commodity.
While this is good for the farming community and particularly for those in Australia who have been struggling with recent droughts and high debts it has the potential to create inflation as consumers have to pay more for food. Inflation leads to interest rises as the Reserve bank tries to reign in inflation.
It is clear that until emissions-free fuel cell technology or other technologies are widely used, the immediate need is to drive less.
In the long term, improved urban design and more local community-based services will reduce the need for the car.
Oles, June 2007