We thought Australian cars were using less fuel. New research shows we were wrong
- Written by John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
In several speeches of late, Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisted with a straight face that Australia is doing its bit on climate change[1]. The claim was swiftly[2] and thoroughly[3] debunked. The truth is that the Morrison government is piggybacking on the efforts of others, to varying degrees of success.
We saw it in electricity generation, where the federal government has rejected a string of schemes to reduce emissions. Nonetheless the electricity sector is getting cleaner as ageing coal-fired power stations are replaced by renewables. This outcome owes nothing to federal government action. It reflects state government policies and the residual effects of the previous Labor government’s Renewable Energy Target, and public pressure that forced banks and insurance companies to stop supporting fossil fuels[4].
In the transport sector, after decades of inaction, the government rejected recommendations from the Climate Change Authority to impose fuel efficiency standards on passenger vehicles, leaving Australia as the only OECD country without such standards. It has similarly derided action to promote the use of electric vehicles.[5][6][7]
Read more: Australians could have saved over $1 billion in fuel if car emissions standards were introduced 3 years ago[8]
Instead, the Coalition is relying on the hope that carbon dioxide emission rates of Australia’s new passenger vehicle fleet will reduce over time without any effort by governments, because vehicle emissions legislation[9] overseas, where Australia’s cars are made, is delivering technological improvements. Official projections[10] state that some, but not all, of this improvement will flow through to Australia.
Unfortunately, this assumption is not reliable. New research shows that for the first time, fuel efficiency in Australia is getting worse, not better. In the absence of positive action from governments, transport emissions will continue to grow, and even accelerate.
References
- ^ doing its bit on climate change (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ swiftly (www.abc.net.au)
- ^ thoroughly (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ stop supporting fossil fuels (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ decades of inaction (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ only OECD country without such standards (theconversation.com)
- ^ promote the use of electric vehicles. (reneweconomy.com.au)
- ^ Australians could have saved over $1 billion in fuel if car emissions standards were introduced 3 years ago (theconversation.com)
- ^ vehicle emissions legislation (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ Official projections (ris.pmc.gov.au)
- ^ Department of Environment and Energy (www.environment.gov.au)
- ^ CC BY (creativecommons.org)
- ^ 255 billion km (www.abs.gov.au)
- ^ 31% (ageis.climatechange.gov.au)
- ^ projected to reach 111 million tonnes of CO₂ by 2030 (www.climatecouncil.org.au)
- ^ recent analysis (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ Transport Energy/Emission Research (www.transport-e-research.com)
- ^ Real-World CO2 Emissions Performance of the Australian New Passenger Vehicle Fleet 2008-2018, TER (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ lower emissions in laboratory conditions (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ Real-World CO2 Emissions Performance of the Australian New Passenger Vehicle Fleet 2008-2018, TER (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ TER study (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ accounting tricks (theconversation.com)
- ^ much sharper emissions reductions (www.environment.gov.au)
- ^ lower weekly fuel costs (theconversation.com)
- ^ Clean, green machines: the truth about electric vehicle emissions (theconversation.com)
- ^ transitions to renewables (theconversation.com)
- ^ possible (docs.wixstatic.com)
- ^ large databases (docs.wixstatic.com)
Authors: John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland