Emissions decline as less coal burnt, but renewables struggle

Greenhouse gas emissions from energy production declined across eastern Australia last year because less coal was burnt, and NSW cut back more than the other states, while some of Australia’s big green energy players have called on the Federal Government to remove solar hot water heaters from a scheme that entices investment in renewable power.

Clancy Yeates in Business Day (18 January 2010):

SOME of Australia’s big green energy players have called on the Federal Government to remove solar hot water heaters from a scheme that entices investment in renewable power.

After last month’s failure at Copenhagen to secure a binding global accord on cutting carbon, the companies have taken aim at Australia’s renewable energy target (RET).

The target requires 20 per cent of Australia’s power to be renewable by 2020. But the scheme came under fire after a $1600 solar hot water subsidy flooded the market with renewable energy certificates from domestic water heaters, causing the certificates’ value almost to halve.

In a submission to a Council of Australian Governments inquiry, companies including AGL, Pacific Hydro and wind turbine makers Vestas and Suzlon call for hot water heaters to be removed from the scheme.

Industry estimates put the total value of RET-driven investment at up to $30 billion. The group called for state-based energy efficiency schemes to be joined in a single national scheme.

Source: www.businessday.com.au

Ben Cubby In Sydney Morning Herald (18 January 2010):

Greenhouse gas emissions from energy production declined across eastern Australia last year because less coal was burnt, and NSW cut back more than the other states, research has shown.

The result reflects the first tangible hints of a switch to natural gas and away from coal as a source of baseload power. Wind and solar energy made little impact on the energy grid last year, and still contribute just a sliver of the state’s power mix.

Despite a rising population and economic growth, the state’s emissions dropped 3.1 per cent compared with 2008. But they are still 24 per cent above greenhouse levels in 1990, the baseline year used to calculate carbon cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

Altogether, carbon emissions from energy production decreased 1.8 per cent across the eastern states from their 2008 level, sparing 5.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the annual report of The Climate Group, which monitors weekly changes in power production.

“Any decrease in emissions is good news and 5.3 million tonnes is a substantial saving,” said the Australian director of The Climate Group, Rupert Posner. ”If we were to continue to cut by this much each year, emissions from energy would be almost 20 per cent lower by 2020.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the whole story as low rates of growth have helped keep emissions down. As the economy returns to more robust levels of growth, continued reductions will be much harder to achieve unless we start to change the way we produce and use energy in a much more meaningful way.”

Economic growth in NSW slowed to 0.2 per cent last year because of the global economic crisis, but it is expected to grow faster this year.

The drop in emissions is mainly due to less surplus energy being produced by coal-fired plants and, in NSW, the commissioning of three small gas-powered plants at Colongra on the Central Coast, Uranquity near Wagga Wagga and Tallawarra in the Illawarra.

Gas is a fossil fuel that releases greenhouse gases, but emissions from gas are generally only 40 per cent of those from coal.

The NSW carbon cuts were boosted slightly because the state imported more energy which, in turn, spread some of its emissions among Queensland energy generators.

Petrol emissions from transport and generators, which include the figures for LPG, automotive fuels, aviation fuel, industrial diesel and fuel oil, dropped 0.2 per cent compared with the previous year.

As last year was the second-warmest on record in Australia, there was increased demand for air-conditioning in the summer, but this was offset by lower demand for electricity during a relatively warm winter.

The data means NSW is still pumping out between 1.8 and 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas a week from energy production. The peak is in February.

“As the country with the highest per capita emissions in the world, we need to be doing much more to reduce our carbon footprint,” Mr Posner said.

Source: www.smh.com.au