The Greens have been signalling for months they want the Albanese government to stop new coal and gas projects. . A point of contention over the scheme is how much of the emissions reduction would be made directly by industry, and how much would come from carbon offsets, which allow industry to pay for cuts elsewhere. The widespread use of offsets have been become controversial after allegations that some projects lack integrity.
An analysis released on Wednesday by the consultants RepuTex, which modelled Labor’s climate policy before last year’s election, estimated that up to three-quarters of cuts by 2030 would be made through onsite cuts by polluters, with carbon offsets playing a lesser role.
After the Greens signalled they would use the looming parliamentary negotiation to pursue the party’s long-sought ban on new coal and gas, a number of Labor frontbenchers used question time to launch a pre-emptive strike, warning both the Greens and the Coalition against sabotaging emissions reduction efforts. Sarah Hanson-Young Greens bill to amend national environment laws to introduce a climate trigger that would require the environment minister to reject new fossil fuel projects that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. “They would be treated the same way as nuclear projects are treated under the existing act,” she said.
The CSIRO has been criticised in the past for being compromised by gas industry funding. That criticism has just reached new heights as progressive think tank The Australia Institute (TAI) has debunked the credibility of the science agency research and said the research was designed to expand the gas industry.
The report which TAI has questioned details whether the Northern Territory government could offset all the greenhouse gas emissions from fracking the Beetaloo Basin. It was produced within CSIRO’s internal Gas Industry Social and Environment Alliance (GISERA), which receives a third of its funding from the gas industry.
According to Hemming “Whether you believe offsetting is a legitimate premise, it is clear that the entire concept is not being used as a temporary measure by industry while it decarbonises. It is being used as a way to lock in fossil fuel production.”
Between 39 and 117 mega tonnes, or a billion kilograms, of Co2 will be released every year from fracking the Beetaloo according to federal FOIs.
The Beetaloo development has only been allowed to proceed due to undertakings by the Northern Territory government to offset all emissions from production and onshore combustion of the gas.
The Greens are right to demand that more than 100 coal and gas projects in Australia’s pipeline be binned in exchange for support for the government’s key climate policy in the Senate, former Greens leader and environmentalist Bob Brown says.
“The Albanese government is captured by the corporations and unions against public sentiment,” he told Crikey. “The Greens’ policy represents most Australians’ wishes.”
Greens Leader Adam Bandt has confirmed that his party, which holds the balance of power after the Coalition vowed to vote nay, had agreed to waive all other concerns with the controversial safeguard mechanism legislation on one condition.
“The Greens have huge concerns with other parts of the scheme, such as the rampant use of offsets and the low emissions reduction targets,” he said. “But we’re prepared to put those concerns aside and give Labor’s scheme a chance if Labor agrees to stop opening new coal and gas projects.
The CSIRO’s recent report detailing carbon credits required to offset gas fracking in the Beetaloo Basin is based on faulty assumptions to suit the gas industry, say experts
The CSIRO has been criticised in the past for being compromised by gas industry funding. That criticism has just reached new heights as progressive think tank The Australia Institute (TAI) has debunked the credibility of the science agency research and said the research was designed to expand the gas industry.
The report which TAI has questioned details whether the Northern Territory government could offset all the greenhouse gas emissions from fracking the Beetaloo Basin. It was produced within CSIRO’s internal Gas Industry Social and Environment Alliance (GISERA), which receives a third of its funding from the gas industry.
I’m yet to see a more striking example of the way a government science agency has been so brazenly co-opted by government and industry to run an agenda purely designed to facilitate gas expansion.
The “Mitigation and Offsets of Australian Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Onshore Shale Gas in the Northern Territory” report estimates annual GHG emissions for five scenarios of Beetaloo Basin onshore shale gas production and consumption. The development has been reported as “requiring unproven CCS and/or unapproved international offsets for some scenarios,” according to Steven Spencer, Energy and Climate Senior Analyst Engevity Advisory and former senior Technical Advisor (Electricity) at the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Spencer says:
The Beetaloo Basin GHG emissions would become the largest of any facility in Australia for four out of five of the scenarios.
According to Hemming “Whether you believe offsetting is a legitimate premise, it is clear that the entire concept is not being used as a temporary measure by industry while it decarbonises. It is being used as a way to lock in fossil fuel production.”
Between 39 and 117 mega tonnes, or a billion kilograms, of Co2 will be released every year from fracking the Beetaloo according to federal FOIs.
The Beetaloo development has only been allowed to proceed due to undertakings by the Northern Territory government to offset all emissions from production and onshore combustion of the gas.
