Carbon emissions

Analysis and Comment (26)

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We aren’t irreversibly committed to a warmer world. Moyan Brenn earthincolors.wordpress.com

Emissions cuts made now fight global warming immediately

By Damon Matthews, Concordia University

There is a commonly held belief among both scientists and the general public that there is a delay between the CO2 emissions we put into the atmosphere, and the resulting climate change. As a consequence…
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Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station: carbon markets are supposed to be effective, not just hot air. PA/David Davies

Is this the end of carbon trading, or just a hiccup?

By Cameron Hepburn, London School of Economics

Just as scientists almost universally agree greenhouse gases contribute to the planet’s changing climate, economists almost universally agree the problem is made worse because polluters don’t pay for the…
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Not just a nice idea: zero emissions housing is affordable and possible, once some policy changes are made. Jeff Egnaczyk

To cut emissions, the housing sector has to pull its weight

By Trivess Moore, RMIT University

If Australia is to reduce its emissions enough to limit the impacts of climate change, all sectors are going to have to pull their weight. It’s a big job: scientists tell us we need reduce emissions by…
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In the last few years, both China and the US have ramped up efforts to address climate change. Stefano Paltera/US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon

China and the US step up on climate

By Tim Flannery

Ambition has awakened the global energy giants, China and the United States. Both nations have recently strengthened commitments to address climate change and announced plans to strengthen collaboration…
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Every which way but forward. Are biofuels an answer to aviation emissions we can agree on? pearsongraphics/Flickr

Not even Nobel prize winners can fix aviation emissions

By David Hodgkinson, University of Western Australia

Aviation is a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. In other industries emissions are declining, or at least are better regulated. Airline emissions, however, continue to soar. How viable are laws…
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Trade in emissions entitlements has struck some large practical problems. EPA/MARK

Falling EU carbon price should inspire greater mitigation efforts

By Ross Garnaut, University of Melbourne

Emissions growth in the 21st century was overwhelmingly concentrated in developing countries. My own calculations on “business as usual” emissions for the Climate Change Review Update suggested that in…
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Carbon reporting regulations are controlled by a select few. freefotouk/Flickr

The private world of carbon reporting

By Jane Andrew and Corinne Cortese

Five years ago, we really didn’t have a clue what an organisation’s carbon impact might look like, and few firms had any sort of carbon-oriented business plan. Now, the trend is to fill this gap by producing…
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What’s behind Australia’s Kyoto target, and could we shift it? ##Erika**/Flickr

Australia’s Kyoto 2 target: shaking up our thinking

By Frank Jotzo

At the Doha climate conference, Australia has submitted a 99.5% emissions target for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Why is Australia doing it, and what does it mean? Setting a good…
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The earth’s crust might be our most valuable resource yet. prawnpie/Flickr

Earth’s most valuable resource is the space between the sand

By Tim Rawling, University of Melbourne

For centuries, the shallow parts of the earth’s crust have provided us with fuels to burn in our fireplaces, foundries and generators. Now, as we try to break free from our reliance on some of the dirtier…
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More and more people are flying. International emissions regulation isn’t keeping up. Dave Sag

The not so friendly skies: the EU, aviation and climate change

By David Hodgkinson, University of Western Australia

Aviation has – and has had for some time – an emissions problem. That problem was illustrated in dramatic fashion last week when it was announced that the European Union (EU) would freeze until late next…
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The American people have spoken in favour of climate change by re-electing Barack Obama to a second presidential term. Flickr/350.org

Obama’s second term challenges must include tackling climate change

By Barry Naughten

In his acceptance speech of November 6, Barack Obama at long last reaffirmed the need to address global warming. But unfortunately he also reaffirmed the spurious goal of US oil independence, which can…
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Do you value this? The Energy White Paper doesn’t. Green MPs

Energy White Paper plans to burn, burn, burn it all

By Chris McGrath

Burn it all. That is the plan in Australia’s new Energy White Paper. Released yesterday by Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, it talks about responding to climate change while planning the…
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The government’s projections of future emissions don’t seem to account for a reduction in demand for energy. Cowboy/Dave Flickr

Australia’s emissions projections: bleak but too pessimistic

By Frank Jotzo

New greenhouse gas emissions projections have been released by Australia’s government. They suggest that only a minority of the task to meet Australia’s emissions target will be achieved through domestic…
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Australians may be cutting back carbon-intensive activities, but until the government is more transparent about emission cuts there’s no way to check. Adrian Tritschler

No way of knowing if the carbon price is lowering emissions

By Sarah Waddell

Last week we had good news from the Federal Government that the carbon price is already working. Many of us from across the political spectrum have wondered whether the complex new financial arrangements…
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Traditional burials take up space that could be used for forest or farmland. Stuck in Customs/Flick

Dying green: environmentally friendly burials in China

By Yuan Gao, University of Melbourne and Roger Short, University of Melbourne

How we die, as well as how we live, has profound and lasting effects on the environment. Nowhere is this more true than in China, the most populous nation on Earth. According to the National Bureau of…
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We want our pets to be happy, but how much luxury do they need? nezitic[x]/flickr

What about your carbon pawprint?

By Guy Pearse

People around the world are worrying about their carbon footprint. But what about their furry friends' carbon pawprints? Consider the numbers: there are currently around 1 billion pet cats and dogs worldwide…
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Compensation candidate: The Yallourn power plant in the La Trobe Valley. Flickr/Dallas75

Right to compensation was folly from the start

By Stuart Rosewarne

In some respects, we should be relieved by the collapse of the Labor government’s negotiations to decommission some of the most polluting brown-coal electricity generation plants. The notion that decommissioning…
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Other countries – either in the European Union or elsewhere – could be the main beneficiaries of the Australian Government’s move to link carbon pricing with Europe. AAP

Do we really want to hand control of our carbon price to Europe?

By Paul Frijters

Linking Australia to the European Union carbon emissions trading scheme by 2015 will undoubtedly affect the revenue gained from carbon trading. The question is, how much? One should expect up to 50% less…
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Iran’s gas could make a difference to the world’s carbon-reduction efforts, if only the world was allowed to use it. EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh

US–Iran normalisation could fight climate change

By Barry Naughten

The problem of climate change policy at an international level is not only about reaching agreement on sharing the mitigation burden. It is also about how dysfunctional foreign policies – not directly…
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While Australia fears either an environment or economic doomsday, other countries get on with making a cleaner future. Detail of Hieronymus Bosch's The Last Judgment, from Flickr/profzucker

Apocalypse Not: doomsday thinkers of Oz should get out more

By Graham Harris

I sometimes wonder what planet this country of ours is on. The environmental debate we are having seems to be in a parallel universe to the rest of the world. Having spent the last four years running one…
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Tony Abbott described the carbon tax as a python that would strangle the economy, but it’s more of a lolly snake. Flickr/anenomeprojectors

Why the carbon-tax ‘python’ won’t squeeze the economy

By Alan Pears AM, RMIT University

Some critics of carbon pricing have pointed out that, over time, the carbon price will increase to a much higher level and devastate the economy. Indeed, the image of a python squeezing the life out of…
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Landcare get-together: reducing our toll on nature comes in part from many of us taking steps that individually are not always so big, but which accumulate. The carbon tax is one such step. Flickr/feral arts

Little by little: the benefits of Australian climate policy

By Roger Jones, Victoria University

A catchment threatened by salinity can’t be repaired by one or two landholders. Revegetation designed to lower watertables has its greatest ecological benefit where the plants are, but its net impact on…
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Sold to the lowest bidder! The carbon price will not transform Australia’s power supply without further steps to help low-emission technologies into the market. Flickr/sashafatcat

Low-emission’s missing link: reverse auctions for clean power

By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute

When it comes to reducing emissions, most serious analysts agree: the market works best, but the market is not enough. The International Energy Agency, the OECD, leading British climate economist Nicholas…
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The two major parties have taken different approaches to compensating households for the carbon tax. Jonas B

The carbon tax, compensation and households: a two-party comparison

By John Freebairn, University of Melbourne

The two main political parties agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 5% below the 2000 level, or about a 20% reduction below business as usual. However, they propose very different policy…

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