The latest data published by the Clean Energy Regulator for the Safeguard Mechanism has come out. On the day before the Easter Long weekend. Do you think they want to bury this information?
In the top national polluters Gas producers and LNG terminals, and coal mines feature. As well as steelworks and both Qantas and Virgin Airlines. Alumina refineries and Aluminium plants included. YPF Ammonia plant in the Pilbara which uses gas as a stock feed.
In Victoria Esso’s Gippsland Basin facility and Viva Energy Geelong Refinery are the major polluters. V/line produces over 140,000 tonnes of carbon pollution. State Government needs to tackle this in electrifying the coach fleet and conversion of diesel trains fleet.
The Safeguard Mechanism formally came into action on 1st July 2023, so the data is for the period immediately prior to the Mechanism.
Victorian climate polluters in the Safeguard Mechanism
These are the Facilities and companies in Victoria regulated under the Safeguard mechanism (minimum 100,000 tonnes of CO2e greenhouse gas pollution per year.)
| Facility | State | Company | Carbon Pollution CO2e tonnes | Methodology |
| Mobil Altona Refinery | VIC | MOBIL REFINING AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Gippsland Basin facility | VIC | ESSO AUSTRALIA RESOURCES PTY LTD | 2,740,315 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Geelong Refinery | VIC | VIVA ENERGY REFINING PTY LTD | 1,105,699 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Portland Aluminium Smelter | VIC | ALCOA PORTLAND ALUMINIUM PROPRIETARY LIMITED | 575,641 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Opal Australian Paper Maryvale Mill | VIC | PAPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 350,280 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Multinet Principal Distribution Network and South Gippsland Pipeline | VIC | MULTINET GAS (DB NO. 2) PTY LTD | 314,458 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Australian Gas Networks (Vic) Pty Ltd | VIC | AUSTRALIAN GAS NETWORKS HOLDING PTY LTD | 307,484 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| 1. Solid Waste Services – MRL | VIC | CLEANAWAY WASTE MANAGEMENT LIMITED | 251,277 | Landfill baseline |
| AusNet Gas Services Pty Ltd | VIC | AUSNET SERVICES HOLDINGS PTY LTD | 221,453 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Qenos Altona Manufacturing | VIC | QENOS PTY LTD | 218,590 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Otway | VIC | BEACH ENERGY (OPERATIONS) LIMITED | 200,355 | Calculated baseline |
| Sewerage West | VIC | MELBOURNE WATER CORPORATION | 168,625 | Calculated baseline |
| TT-Line – Victorian Operation | VIC | TT-LINE COMPANY PTY. LTD. | 161,416 | Calculated baseline |
| V/Line | VIC | V/LINE CORPORATION | 140,686 | Calculated baseline |
| InfraBuild Steel Laverton Steel Mill | VIC | THE AUSTRALIAN STEEL COMPANY (OPERATIONS) PTY LTD | 125,904 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Dandenong | VIC | OCEANIA GLASS PTY LTD | 123,348 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Western Port Works | VIC | BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED | 121,212 | Production-adjusted baseline |
Top Australian climate Polluters
The top climate polluters nationally (1 million tonnes of greenhouse gas CO2e pollution and above) are in the table below.
| Facility | State | Company | Carbon Pollution CO2e tonnes | Methodology |
| Gorgon Operations | WA | CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 8,336,476.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Start up and Operations of the Ichthys LNG Project | NT | INPEX OPERATIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 7,067,789.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Port Kembla Steelworks | NSW | BLUESCOPE STEEL (AIS) PTY. LTD. | 6,875,761.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Qantas Airways Limited National Transport Facility | National | QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED | 5,285,611.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Capcoal Mine | QLD | ANGLO COAL (CAPCOAL MANAGEMENT) PTY LIMITED | 4,544,066.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Moranbah North Mine | QLD | ANGLO COAL (MORANBAH NORTH MANAGEMENT) PTY LIMITED | 4,533,701.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Wheatstone Operations | WA | CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 4,343,119.00 | Calculated baseline |
| WOR01 | WA | SOUTH32 WORSLEY ALUMINA PTY LTD | 3,492,670.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Grosvenor Mine | QLD | ANGLO COAL (MORANBAH NORTH MANAGEMENT) PTY LIMITED | 3,307,753.00 | Calculated baseline |
| APN01 Appin Colliery – ICH Facility | NSW | ENDEAVOUR COAL PTY LIMITED | 3,280,958.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery | QLD | QUEENSLAND ALUMINA LIMITED | 2,915,797.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Pinjarra Alumina Refinery | WA | ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED | 2,798,215.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Gippsland Basin facility | VIC | ESSO AUSTRALIA RESOURCES PTY LTD | 2,740,315.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Virgin Australia Holdings National Transport Facility | National | VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED | 2,397,885.00 | Calculated baseline |
| APLNG Facility | QLD | CONOCOPHILLIPS AUSTRALIA OPERATIONS PTY LTD | 2,381,120.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| FLNG | WA | SHELL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 2,263,910.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Rio Tinto Yarwun | QLD | RTA YARWUN PTY LTD | 2,201,946.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Moomba Plant | SA | SANTOS LIMITED | 2,174,932.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Liberty Primary Steel Whyalla Steelworks | SA | ONESTEEL MANUFACTURING PTY LIMITED | 2,041,611.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| TAHMOOR COAL MINE | NSW | TAHMOOR COAL PTY LTD | 2,008,287.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Curtis Island GLNG Plant | QLD | SANTOS LIMITED | 1,810,046.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Fisherman’s Landing | QLD | CEMENT AUSTRALIA (QUEENSLAND) PTY LIMITED | 1,795,018.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Goonyella Broadmeadow Mine | QLD | BM ALLIANCE COAL OPERATIONS PTY LIMITED | 1,736,739.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Wagerup Alumina Refinery | WA | ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED | 1,724,761.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Queensland Curtis LNG Plant | QLD | QCLNG OPERATING COMPANY PTY LTD | 1,699,600.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston | WA | CITIC PACIFIC MINING MANAGEMENT PTY LTD | 1,572,924.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| YPF AMMONIA PLANT | WA | YARA PILBARA FERTILISERS PTY LTD | 1,512,283.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Kestrel Coal Pty Ltd | QLD | KESTREL COAL GROUP PTY LTD | 1,465,574.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Mandalong Mine | NSW | CENTENNIAL MANDALONG PTY LIMITED | 1,443,304.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Curragh Mine | QLD | CORONADO AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD | 1,255,125.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Tomago Aluminium Smelter | NSW | TOMAGO ALUMINIUM COMPANY PTY LTD | 1,230,271.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| QGC Upstream | QLD | QGC PTY LIMITED | 1,186,518.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Kooragang Island | NSW | ORICA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 1,140,746.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Kwinana Alumina Refinery | WA | ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED | 1,134,344.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Railton | TAS | CEMENT AUSTRALIA (GOLIATH) PTY LIMITED | 1,118,359.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Narrabri Underground Mine | NSW | NARRABRI COAL OPERATIONS PTY LTD | 1,116,113.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Russell Vale Colliery | NSW | WOLLONGONG RESOURCES PTY. LTD. | 1,115,025.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Geelong Refinery | VIC | VIVA ENERGY REFINING PTY LTD | 1,105,699.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| CEM NSW Berrima | NSW | BORAL LIMITED | 1,075,006.00 | Production-adjusted baseline |
| Warkworth Mine | NSW | WARKWORTH MINING LTD | 1,018,733.00 | Calculated baseline |
| Baralaba Coal Mine | QLD | BARALABA COAL COMPANY PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Carborough Downs Coal Mine | QLD | FITZROY (CQ) PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Carosue Dam Operations | WA | NORTHERN STAR (CAROSUE DAM) PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Cowal Operations | NSW | EVOLUTION MINING (COWAL) PTY LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Darwin LNG Plant | NT | SANTOS LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| DBNGP | WA | DBNGP (WA) TRANSMISSION PTY LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Drake Mine | QLD | DRAKE MINE MANAGEMENT PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Ensham Resources Minesite | QLD | ENSHAM RESOURCES PTY. LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| HVY01 Hunter Valley Energy Coal – CCL Facility | NSW | HUNTER VALLEY ENERGY COAL PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Jimblebar Mine | WA | BHP IRON ORE PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| McArthur River Mine Operations | NT | MCARTHUR RIVER MINING PTY. LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Mesa A Mine | WA | ROBE RIVER MINING CO. PTY. LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Mobil Altona Refinery | VIC | MOBIL REFINING AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Mt Keith Power Station | WA | TEC DESERT PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| NKW01 Nickel West Kwinana Facility | WA | BHP NICKEL WEST PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| North West Shelf Project | WA | WOODSIDE ENERGY LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Pacific National National Transport Facility | National | PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Pluto LNG | WA | WOODSIDE BURRUP PTY. LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Queensland | QLD | ALLIANCE AVIATION SERVICES LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Saraji Mine | QLD | BM ALLIANCE COAL OPERATIONS PTY LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Sojitz Gregory Crinum Mine | QLD | SOJITZ DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| South Walker Creek | QLD | STANMORE RESOURCES LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Vincent Project Venture | WA | WOODSIDE ENERGY LTD. | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Wambo Coal Mine | NSW | WAMBO COAL PTY LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
| Western Australia | WA | ALLIANCE AVIATION SERVICES LIMITED | n/a | Multi-year monitoring period |
2022/23 Summary data for the Safeguard Mechanism
219 Facilities covered under the Safeguard Mechanism
138.7 million tonnes CO2-e Combined covered emissions
25 Multi-year monitoring periods in place
1,218,000 ACCUs surrendered (total) ACCU = Australian Carbon Credit Units
Unlimited use of carbon credits a major flaw
Climate Analytics argued when the Safeguard Mechanism was designed that the unlimited use of carbon offsets in the Safeguard Mechanism was a major flaw allowing coal and gas to actually expand emissions.
Some 55 per cent of Australian Carbon Credit Units come from land based vegetation offset programs. The Australian Government considers 100 years to be permanent, yet only 60% of the CO2 is sequestered after 100 years. There are more integrity issues besides sequestration rate, such as increase in fires, poor carbon accounting of vegetation change.
“The impact of the Australian government allowing fossil fuel companies access to unlimited offsets – especially from the land sector – would give a green light to new coal and gas production, lead to a continued rise in emissions and threaten Australia’s ability to meet its climate targets, according to new analysis released today.”
Climate Analytics, outlines the fundamental scientific shortcomings of land sector offsets, such as tree planting and forest regeneration, which account for more than half the total offsets generated to date. It finds:
- The majority of land sector offsets fail to deliver genuine or additional emission reductions.
- The projects underpinning land sector offsets are, by design, not permanent, meaning it’s likely that much of the carbon sequestered will eventually be lost back to the atmosphere, and many would have happened without the money provided by the sale of offsets while many more do not represent emissions reductions at all.
- Using Australia’s land sector to offset fossil fuel emissions is fundamentally risky.
“The analysis calculates that for every Australian carbon credit unit (ACCU) generated to offset one tonne of CO2 equivalent emissions from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production in Australia, about 8.4 tonnes of CO2 equivalent lifecycle emissions are emitted globally.
“For coal, the equivalent is even bigger, for every tonne of CO2 equivalent emissions from coal mining offset on average about 58-69 tonnes of CO2 equivalent lifecycle emissions are emitted globally.”
Update: New research shows native revegetation carbon offset projects have limited impact on carbon removal
Peer reviewed research published in Nature argues that Australian human-induced native forest regeneration carbon offset projects have limited impact on changes in woody vegetation cover and carbon removals.
The research articulates that Carbon offsets are a widely used climate policy instrument that can reduce mitigation costs and generate important environmental and social co-benefits.
But it also points out that they can increase emissions if they lack integrity.
We analysed the performance of one of the world’s largest nature-based offset types: human-induced regeneration projects under Australia’s carbon offset scheme. The projects are supposed to involve the human-induced regeneration of permanent even-aged native forests through changes in land management. We analysed 182 projects and found limited evidence of regeneration in credited areas. Changes in woody vegetation cover within the areas that have been credited also largely mirror changes in adjacent comparison areas, outside the projects, suggesting the observable changes are predominantly attributable to factors other than the project activities. The results add to the growing literature highlighting the practical limitations of offsets and the potential for offset schemes to credit abatement that is non-existent, non-additional and potentially impermanent.
Macintosh, A., Butler, D., Larraondo, P. et al. (2024)
Yet under the Safeguard mechanism companies can use unlimited carbon offset credits to help them meet emission reduction targets set under the mechanism. Coal and gas companies can pay a tithe by buying Australian Carbon Credit Units to cover increasing emissions. The Federal Government has set in place this dodgy carbon accounting. Nature will not be fooled, and we will reap the whirlwind in more extreme weather.
References
Clean Energy Regulator, 28 March 2024, Safeguard facility reported emissions data, https://cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/markets/reports-and-data/safeguard-facility-reported-emissions-data#publication-notes
Climate Analytics, 10 February, 2023, Why offsets don’t work: new analysis, https://climateanalytics.org/press-releases/why-offsets-dont-work-new-analysis
Lead image is from this report with the caption:
Figure ES1: Lifecycle Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from offsetting one million tonnes of emissions in Australia (MtCO2e) from fossil fuel production of liquefied natural gas and coal. Present emissions from LNG production in Australia are about 36 million tonnes of GHG emissions (MtCO2e) and coal mining around 32 MtCO2e in 2022. Offsetting one million tonnes of LNG production emissions in Australia could effectively produce 8.4 million tonnes of emissions globally taking into account transport and final use of the gas – 8.4 MtCO2e is equivalent to about 2% of Australia’s 2022 emissions. Similarly for coal mining, offsetting one million tonnes of emissions from an average mine in Australia could lead to 58-67 MtCO2e emissions globally, equivalent to about 12-14% of Australia’s 2022 emissions.
Macintosh, A., Butler, D., Larraondo, P. et al. Nature Commun Earth Environ 5, 149 (2024), 26 March 2024, Australian human-induced native forest regeneration carbon offset projects have limited impact on changes in woody vegetation cover and carbon removals (Open Access) https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01313-x
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