Australia Yearbook - 2009-10

Although the Australian economy (GDP) grew by
75% between 1990 and 2007, the nation's net
GHG emissions grew by only 9%. The falling
trend in emissions per unit of GDP has been
attributed to better management of emissions
across sectors, the large decline in land use
change emissions, and stronger growth in the
services sector rather than in the more energy
intensive manufacturing sector.
Main sources of greenhouse gas
emissions
Carbon dioxide
Most of Australia's carbon dioxide emissions
occur as the result of fuel combustion. In 2007,
fuel combustion accounted for 81.5% of the
nation's total carbon dioxide emissions.
The energy industries, in particular electricity
generation from coal-fired stations, accounted for
60% of fuel combustion emissions in 2007, up
from 56% in 1990. Road transport accounted for
18% of fuel combustion emissions in 2007.
Between 1990 and 2007, carbon dioxide
emissions from fuel combustion increased by
44.5%. Within the fuel combustion activities,
energy industries showed an increase of 55% and
road transport was up 25% in this period (graph
3.25).
Of note is the comparison between passenger
vehicle fuel consumption and carbon dioxide
emissions for the period 1998 to 2007. The
former increased by 21% between 1998 and 2007,
whereas the latter increased by 7%. From 2005,
carbon dioxide emissions by passenger vehicles
are seen to have decreased compared to fuel
3.25 CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS (a): ENERGY AND TRANSPORT
Energy
Road transport
index
160
140
120
100
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
(a) relative to 1990, base year, 1990 = 100.0
80
Source: Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System (AGEIS),
National Greenhouse Gas Inventory - Kyoto Protocol Accounting Framework.
3.26 PASSENGER VEHICLES - CO2 EMISSIONS & FUEL CONSUMPTION
%change
Emissions
25
Fuel consumption
20
15
10
5
0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Note: Base year = 1998. Comparable fuel consumption data were not available prior to 1998.
The fuel consumption year is the 12 months ending July 1998 and 1999 or Oct (2000–2007).
Source: Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, October 2007, 2002, Table 1 (9208.0)
Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System (AGEIS),
National Greenhouse Gas Inventory - Kyoto Protocol Accounting Framework.
128 Year Book Australia 2009–10