Cleaner Power Cuts Australia's Emissions Arabian Post

(MENAFN- The Arabian Post) clearfix"> Australia's greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by about 2% over the past year, marking a sharper shift in the country's climate trajectory as renewable electricity, lower fossil-fuel generation and faster electric vehicle adoption begin to reshape two of its most carbon-intensive sectors.

National emissions were estimated at 436 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the year to September 2025, down 2.8% from a year earlier. For the year to June 2025, emissions were 28.5% below the 2005 baseline used for Australia's 2030 climate target, while the emissions intensity of the economy was more than 56% lower than two decades earlier. The figures show that the energy transition is starting to deliver measurable cuts, though the pace remains under scrutiny as Australia works towards a legislated 43% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

The electricity sector has been the clearest source of improvement. Solar, wind and hydro supplied 40% of Australia's total electricity generation in 2024, up from 39.4% a year earlier. Rooftop solar remains the most visible driver of that shift, with more than four million systems installed on homes and small businesses and 3.2 gigawatts of additional rooftop capacity added during 2024. Rooftop solar now has more than 25 gigawatts of installed capacity, exceeding the combined capacity of black and brown coal.

Momentum continued into the following year. Renewable generation exceeded 50% of supply in the National Electricity Market during the December 2025 quarter, as wind, rooftop solar and grid-scale solar output all rose. Coal and gas together fell below half of the generation mix for the quarter, while gas-fired generation dropped to its lowest level since 2000. Battery discharge nearly tripled from a year earlier, underlining the growing role of storage in smoothing variable renewable supply.

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The change is beginning to alter the economics of the grid. Greater solar and battery penetration is reducing reliance on more expensive gas-fired power during peak demand periods, helping ease pressure on wholesale electricity prices in parts of eastern Australia. That trend has strengthened the case for grid storage and transmission upgrades, particularly as ageing coal generators approach retirement.

Transport, long one of Australia's harder sectors to decarbonise, is also starting to shift. The sector accounted for 22% of national emissions in 2023-24, with light vehicles making up about 61% of transport emissions. Electric vehicle sales climbed strongly in 2025, with more than 157,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles sold. Battery electric vehicle sales exceeded 100,000 for the first time, while plug-in hybrid sales nearly doubled. Electric vehicles accounted for 13.1% of new-car sales, up from 9.6% in 2024, taking the national EV fleet beyond 454,000 vehicles.

Policy has helped accelerate that shift. The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, which began in 2025, is designed to push carmakers to supply more low- and zero-emission models while penalising high-emission fleets. More than 150 electric models are now available in the market, with competition from Tesla, BYD, MG, Hyundai, Kia and other manufacturers pushing prices lower and widening consumer choice. Charging infrastructure is expanding, although public charging access remains uneven outside major cities and along some regional routes.

Despite the better emissions numbers, Australia's climate position remains contested. The country is still heavily exposed to coal and gas, both through domestic energy use and exports. Methane from coalmines, LNG production and agriculture continues to complicate the national inventory, and independent assessments have questioned whether official estimates fully capture fugitive emissions from fossil-fuel operations. Land-use changes have also played a major role in Australia's headline emissions decline since 2005, meaning cuts in fossil-fuel combustion have been more modest than the top-line figure suggests.

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Investment is another constraint. Renewable capacity additions are growing, but the volume of new large-scale wind and solar projects reaching completion is not yet aligned with the level needed to replace retiring coal plants and meet the 82% renewable electricity ambition by 2030. Planning delays, grid connection bottlenecks, higher construction costs and community concerns over transmission corridors continue to slow delivery. Large-scale batteries are expanding quickly, but storage and network investment must keep pace with electrification across homes, industry and transport.

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