A new international energy report shows that, like a nervous couple on a first date after a big meal, the Albanese Government is massively downplaying how much gas Australia is letting off.
Australia’s methane emissions from coal are 60 percent higher than what it reports to the United Nations, according to the International Energy Agency’s annual methane tracker report.
Released overnight, the IEA estimates methane emissions from coal mining in Australia were 1.668 million tonnes during the last year, 60 percent higher than the 1.007 million tonnes Australia reported to the United Nations.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas - more than eighty times more potent than carbon dioxide over a twenty year period.
While the Albanese Government signed the global pledge to reduce methane emissions in 2022, there has been little progress by coal companies to reduce their own methane emissions since.
The release of the IEA’s report follows analysis by Lock the Gate Alliance, which found, under the Albanese Government’s safeguard mechanism reforms, 10 coal mines would perversely be allowed to increase their direct emissions.
Previous work by Lock the Gate also showed that if the pipeline of coal mines in Queensland went ahead, the state would likely overshoot its newly adopted emissions reduction targets and “wipe out” any reductions in emissions from the safeguard mechanism.
Lock the Gate Alliance National Coordinator Ellen Roberts said, “Reducing methane emissions is a vital step in tackling climate change, because methane’s impact in the atmosphere is far greater but shorter lived than carbon dioxide.
“The IEA’s report shows Australia has a methane problem - but these emissions are set to rise even further, as NSW and QLD continue to approve new and expanded coal mines.
“By limiting methane emissions from coal mining, the Albanese Government can buy itself and the world time while the complex task of decarbonisation gets underway.
“Unfortunately, the IEA's new report shows the Albanese Government is underestimating how much methane Australian coal mines are sending into the atmosphere.
“We are calling on the Albanese Government to overhaul monitoring and reporting of mining methane emissions in Australia, and urgently address the underestimation of methane as identified in this report.
“It’s time to take stronger action to protect Australians who are facing hardship from extreme weather events including floods, fires, and heat waves fueled by climate change.”
ENDS
Background:
The IEA’s 2024 Methane Tracker report specifically notes that while many countries have expressed a high-level of political commitment to bring down methane emissions, real action must follow. The report says there are readily available and cost effective technologies to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel projects:
“Methane abatement in the fossil fuel industry is one of the most pragmatic and lowest cost options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The technologies and measures to prevent emissions are well known and have already been deployed successfully around the world.”
“Forty-six percent of coal mine methane (about 765,000 tonnes) could be avoided by mine degasification and ventilation air methane abatement and additional measures, with 9% of this reduction achievable at no net cost"
The report also highlights the importance of cutting methane emissions from fossil fuel sources in the world’s fight to combat dangerous climate change, finding:
“Cutting emissions from fossil fuel operations has the most potential for major reductions in the near term. We estimate that around 80 Mt of annual methane emissions from fossil fuels can be avoided through the deployment of known and existing technologies, often at low – or even negative – cost.”