Herald Sun
Friday 29/8/2008 Page: 7
AUSTRALIANS continue to lead the world on creating emissions from burning coal, pumping the equivalent of 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year per person, a global study has shown. The Centre for Global Development, a Washington think-tank, yesterday also revealed Australia is the planet's eighth biggest carbon polluter.
The study of emissions from 50,000 coal-tired power stations put China, the US, India, Russia, Germany, Japan and Britain ahead of Australia in total carbon dioxide output. But each Australian produced almost the same amount of emissions as Americans - 9.5 tonnes per person - and Indians - 0.6 tonnes - combined.
The Chinese produced just 2.4 tonnes per person a year, but this year outstripped the US as the biggest emitter. According to the study, which draws on the Carbon Monitoring for Action databank, Victoria's Loy Yang A, Hazelwood and Yallourn power stations are among Australia's dirtiest.
Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson yesterday told the first meeting of the National Low Emissions Coal Council that developing carbon capture and storage technology was a priority. "Clearly, no serious response to climate change can ignore the need to reduce emissions from Australia's coal-tired electricity generation sector," a spokesman for Mr Ferguson said.
Coal produced about 80 per cent of Australia's electricity and about a third of its greenhouse gas emissions, he said. Climate Positive research director Matthew Wright said: "We should ... move away from using coal by retrofitting as many generators as we can to make ... power from gas, as a first step, while we roll out renewable energy infrastructure."
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