Chart data from – BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2013
On the day the Australian Climate Authority puts out a load of twaddle it is useful to remind ourselves of the facts of where Australia stands in the global carbon dioxide emissions stakes.
The new Australian Federal Govt is itching to sack this GreenLabor stacked quango – Climate Change Authority – but has to wait until newly elected Senators take the seats 1st July 2014 – unless Labor agrees to vote with the Govt.
The critical question for Australia is – why should we risk our puny little economy by making harmful changes when Asian emissions continue to skyrocket.
We could shut Australia down and return to the Stone Age – the effect on global emissions would not be noticed.
One thing that never seems to rate a mention in these calls for action is the fact that most “renewables” are restricted to the area of power generation. Globally, electricity accounts for only around 14% of total energy use (in Australia it is around 24%). So (even in Australia) a 25% target for overall reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 could not be achieved solely by eliminating all fossil fueled power stations over the next 7 years (a prospect that appears extremely unlikely). Even the 5% reduction committed to by the current government would require more than 20% of Australia’s electricity to come from renewables by 2020. Currently renewables contribute around 13% (mostly from hydro) so we still have a long way to go.
Another chart using the groupings as per the BP report – showing global emissions too –
You can see the effect on CO2 emissions of switching to natural gas in Europe around 1990 and in N America over the last 5 years or so, but not in Australia.
A bit of research and only 12% of Australian electricity is generated from NG, which puts us way behind Europe and the USA.
If the warmists and greenies were serious about reducing CO2 emissions they would be pushing gas production (CSG and frakking) and electricity generation from NG.
That they don’t and actively oppose these things, means they either aren’t serious or they are simply ignorant. Not excluding the possibility of both.
If the Greenies and Warmistas were serious about cutting CO2 emissions they would propose nuclear power and increased frakking and gas production. There is of course no sense, at all. in reducing CO2 emmissions, but proposing wind-power and solar, hot-rocks and tide-power is just wishful thinking and play-acting.
The whole basis for the Kyoto Protocol has collapsed.
Kyoto aimed to reduce rich countries’ emissions from their 1990 levels. In 1990, Europe and North America combined emitted 15 billion tonnes of CO2, and China and India 3 billion. Since then, Europe and North America have fallen to 14 billion, while China and India have rocketed to 11 billion, and are still rising at more than half a billion a year. They will pass Europe and North America around 2017.
Thanks to China and India, global emissions have risen 40 per cent since the Protocol was agreed in 1997 – yet temperatures have hardly moved a jot.
For the record, on 1 Oct 2013 Opposition leader Bill Shorten declared that Labor would not vote before July 2014 for a multi-lateral cessation of the carbon tax legislation.