Record drop in electricity emissions cancelled out by rises in other sectors

Emissions from the electricity sector in the three months to June dropped by the biggest amount on record, as the effect of the Hazelwood coal-fired power station closure is seen for the first time in quarterly projections produced exclusively for the Guardian.

Australia’s most polluting generator, the Hazelwood
power station in Victoria may have closed, but
overall emissions in 2016-17 were the highest since 2011.

But even that drop wasn’t enough to stop Australia’s overall greenhouse gas emissions from continuing to rise. Emissions from almost every other sector – industrial energy, transport, industrial heat and agriculture – all rose. They are the highest levels seen since before the carbon tax was repealed, according to projections by consultants at Ndevr Environmental.

The results mean Australia has now consumed 24% of its carbon budget set by the government’s Climate Change Authority – the total amount of carbon it can release from 2013 while doing its fair share to keep global warming under 2C. Once a certain amount of carbon goes into the atmosphere, warming over 2C will be inevitable.

Read the story by Michael Slezak and Nick Evershed on The Guardian - “Record drop in electricity emissions cancelled out by rises in other sectors.”