Queensland coal and gas projects are polluting almost entirely without restrictions and there is nothing in the Queensland Government’s new emissions reduction laws to make companies rein in their fugitive methane emissions, a new export legal report finds. The report is available here.
As the International Energy Agency recently noted, fossil fuel emissions of methane need to drop by 75% in the next five years to keep the 1.5 degree goal alive. Methane is a dangerous fossil fuel, more than eighty times more powerful as a global heating agent than carbon dioxide over 20 years.
Queensland is responsible for the vast majority of Australia’s methane emissions from fossil fuel projects. But, as a new Environmental Defenders Office report shows, Queensland’s regulatory system is “fragmented and ill-equipped” to tackle the growing problem of fugitive methane emissions from fossil fuel projects.
It finds there is no indication the Miles Government's new emissions reduction targets, recently enshrined in law, “will tangibly influence the assessment and enforcement frameworks for coal and gas production sites, which are two of Queensland’s most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and methane emissions”.
The report comes after a methane-fueled underground fire burned for several weeks at Anglo America’s Grosvenor coal mine, highlighting the risks of potent methane gas, which presents a danger not just to the climate, but also to workers and nearby communities.
The report also highlights serious problems with National Greenhouse Reporting rules, currently under review, which mean actual fugitive emissions from Queensland coal mines are likely to be up to 60% higher than official government figures.
Lock the Gate Alliance National Coordinator Ellen Roberts said: “Putting an end to fugitive emissions from coal and gas projects is a really important step that needs to be taken immediately while the much harder, but achievable, task of total decarbonisation is underway.
“While the Miles Government's new emissions reduction targets are an important step in the right direction, this report shows how there are still some really big gaps in the state’s decarbonisation pathway.
“As the recent Grosvenor coal mine underground fire clearly demonstrated, methane is an incredibly powerful and dangerous gas.
“The best way to reduce dangerous methane is for the State Government to stop approving new coal and gas mines, and to apply the recommendations from this report to existing and closed projects.
“Fugitive emissions from coal mines will be the single largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in Queensland by 2030 - if the government fails to act. Failing to reduce methane from fossil fuel projects will increase the burden on other, less polluting sectors of the Queensland economy.”
The report’s findings include:
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Nearly half of Australia’s fugitive methane emissions are from Queensland coal mines. Fugitive methane emissions from the energy sector are the largest source of methane emissions in Queensland.
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There are no legislated environmental monitoring requirements for methane emissions from coal and gas mining in Queensland apart from onsite monitoring for safety.
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There are virtually no limits to the amount of methane that coal, gas, and oil producers in Queensland can legally emit.
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There is no requirement at a federal or state level to report on emissions of decommissioned open cut coal mines, even though these mines often continue to release significant fugitive emissions after they are abandoned or placed in care and maintenance.
ENDS