Coal fires greenhouse emissions blow-out

Canberra Times
Thursday 21/12/2006 Page: 2
By Rosslyn Beeby Science and Environment Reporter

Greenhouse gas emissions generated by rising demand for coal-fired electricity will increase by 62 per cent over 1990 levels within the next four years, according to an Australian Greenhouse Office report.

The annual national emissions trend report, Tracking the Kyoto Target, predicts Australia's greenhouse emissions will reach 109 per cent of 1990 levels by 2012 - failing to meet the Kyoto Protocol target by an estimated 585 million tonnes. Australia's emissions for 2020 are projected to reach 127 per cent of the 1990 level, driven by "emissions growth from the energy sector in particular", with transport emissions already 29 per cent higher than 1990 levels.

Federal Environment Minister Senator Ian Campbell said the figures showed Australia was "within 1 per cent" of meeting its target to achieve an emissions target of 108 per cent of 1990 levels by 2008-2012. "While meeting Australia's emissions reduction target remains a challenge, we are tracking well and remain committed to reaching it," he said.

Australian Greens climate change spokeswoman Senator Christine Milne has called for a national emissions reduction program, including mandatory energy efficiency targets, an emissions trading scheme and increased commitment to renewable energy technologies.

"It's evident that emissions are spiralling out of control, with big increases across all major sectors, and the Government is doing little to address the situation. That is simply not acceptable after the global economic implications of climate change recently outlined in the Stern report," she said.

Opposition climate change spokesman Peter Garrett described the figures as "a blowout", calculating they amounted to "approximately 5.5 million tonnes of annual greenhouse emissions, the equivalent of about 23 days of total transport sector emissions. . . or 1.4 million extra passenger cars on the roads in 2010".

Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Tony Molir said the Government needed to investigate a range of emission reduction strategies,"instead of focusing so intently on carbon capture and storage as a solution". Overseas trends toward distributed energy - decentralised generation of power using a mix of renewable energy options -were "virtually untouched" by Government policy, he said. `There are currently certain structural and legal roadblocks to distributed energy under the current way electricity is generated.

Climate Institute adviser Irwin Jackson said the report showed the need for Australia to introduce a price signal on carbon emissions. "The report is fairly damning in terms of the Government's response to climate change. Not only are we looking to exceed the Kyoto target but, more importantly, there are big increases projected in our emissions after 2012.

"In the 2005 report, the Australian Greenhouse Office said emissions would increase by 22 per cent by 2020 and now they're saying 27 per cent by 2020." Mr Jackson said the Government needed to introduce laws and incentives to drive emissions down. "We need more investment in solar technology other renewable energy sources, and we need a price on carbon to reward industry for investments in emissions reductions."