BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
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Australia) adopted the‘ Paris Agreement’ which includes a commitment from each nation to reduce carbon emissions enough to limit global post-1990 temperature increases to a maximum 2˚C, with an aspiration level of 1.5˚C.
Australia’ s greenhouse gas emissions per capita are the highest of the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development( OECD) and among the highest in the world( Garnaut, 2011). The Burdekin Dry Tropics region’ s total emissions, excluding coal exports, equates to approximately 0.9 per cent of Australia’ s total emissions( about 538 Million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent [ Mt CO 2
– e ]) and emits the average amount per capita for the country( Parsons, 2014). Our region may be on par with the rest of Australia for local emissions, however it is a large exporter of emissions from coal mined in the Galilee and Bowen Basins, which is used to produce energy.
Whilst not emitted into the Burdekin region air space, and due to the accounting system not counting it as Australian carbon emissions, a significant amount of carbon is removed from the region in the form of coal exports. When burnt in power production, the annual carbon emission from coal exported from the region is approximately 53Mt CO2 – e, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of Australia’ s annual emissions. Should the potential coal resources of the Galilee Basin be realised, the increase in emissions is projected to be as much as 266Mt CO2 – e when burnt, which would equate to half Australia’ s annual emissions( Parsons, 2014). Within the global context, experts assert that Australian coal is on average high quality, compared with other countries, and as a consequence, less coal is needed to generate the same amount of energy, leading to lower carbon emissions by weight( Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2016).
Adapted from British Geological Survey website( www. bgs. ac. uk)
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