A Year After Carbon Pricing, Australia Greener And More Efficient

Details Category: Carbon Market 27 Jun 2013 Published on Thursday, 27 June 2013 Australia greener a year later after Carbon Pricing’s launch Australia is greener, more efficient, and has reduced its greenhouse gas emission only a year after Carbon Pricing was launched in the country, according to a report by the Australian Government. It was on July 1, 2012, that Carbon Pricing was launched by the government of Australia, imposing a price of $23.72 per metric ton of emitted carbon on some 300 companies. It was designed to ensure that climate change was addressed while still maintaining a strong economy. A year after Carbon Pricing was launched, the report titled “How’s Australia’s carbon price is working – one year on,” released by Australia’s Department of Indusrty, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, shows that the country has increased power generation from renewable sources, is more energy efficient, and has reduced its carbon emissions. Comparing the period of July 2012 to May 2013 to the same period of the previous year, there was an increase of 28.5 percent in the electricity generated by renewable sources and an increase of 5.6 percent power from gas and liquid resource. There was also a drop in electricity generated from black coal and brown coal, 4.2 percent and 13.3 percent respectively, from the previous period. The intensity of the emissions from the National Electricity Market also dropped to 0.88 emissions per megawatt hour from 0.92 emissions/MWh the very day Carbon Pricing was launched, and since then emissions/MWh from the National Electricity Market has been relatively low compared to the time when the carbon tax was not being imposed. This decrease in figures translates to the country reducing over 12 million tones of pollution from electricity generation. Carbon Pricing has also improved the country’s energy efficiency. In the 11-month period of July 2012 to May 2013, the amount of electricity sent out to the National Electricity Market went down by 2.4 percent. According to the report, this decrease in the amount of electricity sent out is due to households and businesses responding to higher power prices, being supported by the government to improve energy efficiency, and the initiative to install solar panels and solar water heaters on their roofs thereby reducing the use of electricity from the grid. In addition to the impacts that Carbon Pricing is having on the country, the government’s Clean Energy Future plan – a roadmap to secure clean energy future – is also moving the country towards a low carbon path. Under the Clean Energy Future plan, targets such as 20 percent of the country’s electricity is expected to come from renewable sources by 2020; major investments in clean energy technologies; reducing the energy use and pollution of manufacturing companies; reducing the pollution of farmers on the land; and programs that improve energy efficiency. – L. Polintan Taylor Scott International