information for our energy future
information for our energy future
The following energy reports, research and discussion papers can be downloaded from the publisher's website, usually in pdf format. If you require alternative formats please contact the publisher directly.
July 2008
Commonwealth of Australia
This report details the methodology that the Review is applying to evaluation of the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation; to the application of the science of climate change to Australia; to the international context of Australian mitigation, and to Australian mitigation policy.
Download from: Garnaut Climate Change Review (pdf 13.5 MB)
June 2008
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
The report, prepared by the CSIRO for Dusseldorp Skills Forum found that achieving a rapid transition to sustainability would have little or no impact on national employment, with projected increases in employment of 2.5 to 3.3 million jobs over the next two decades. Well designed policies can substantially decouple economic growth from environmental pressure, so that living standards continue to increase at current rates while our national environmental footprint reduces over time. Employment in sectors with high potential environmental impacts will also grow strongly, such as the transport, construction, and agriculture, manufacturing and mining sectors. Employment in construction and transport sectors is projected to grow significantly faster than the national average.
Download from: Growing the Green Collar Economy (pdf 1.1 MB)
June 2008
Commonwealth Department of Climate Change
This report provides the latest estimates of Australia’s 2006 greenhouse gas emissions based on the accounting rules that apply to Australia’s 108% Kyoto Protocol emissions target. Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors in 2006 totalled 576.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2-e). The energy sector was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions comprising 69.6% (400.9 Mt CO2-e) of emissions. Offsetting growth in these sectors has been a strong decline in net emissions from the land use, land use change and forestry sector and, in particular, reductions in clearing of forest cover.
Download from: National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2006 (pdf 381 kb)
June 2008
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
This report provides a detailed quantitative analysis of the potential impact of emissions trading on energy prices, energy affordability, and general inflation in Australia. Overall, the analysis strongly implies that the introduction of a carbon price does not need to involve a social cost. Australia can make deep cuts in our greenhouse emissions without reducing its living standards, and – with good policy design – can avoid net adverse impacts on low income or vulnerable households, even if emissions trading involves high carbon prices.
Download from: Energy Affordability, Living Standards and Emissions Trading (pdf 2.8 MB)
May 2008
Greenpeace
Carbon capture and storage aims to reduce the climate impact of burning fossil fuels by capturing carbon dioxide from power stations and disposing of it underground. Its future development has been widely promoted by the coal industry as a justification for the construction of new coal-fired power plants. This report from Greenpeace claims that the technology is largely unproven and will not be ready in time to have any significant effect on climate change.
Download from: False Hope (pdf 1.87 NB)
May 2008
Australian National University
This is a background working paper prepared for the Oxford Review of Economic Policy by Ross Garnaut, Stephen Howes, Frank Jotzo and Peter Sheehan. The authors claim there is a compelling case that existing emissions projections are unduly conservative, and that in the absence of effective mitigation over the coming decades emissions will be significantly higher in terms of both growth and level than previously thought. Without all major emitters binding themselves to economy wide targets or policies, given rapid emissions growth, the prospects for the global climate change mitigation effort are bleak.
Download from: Emissions In The Platinum Age (pdf 400 kb)
February 2008
Garnaut Climate Change Review
This is the interim report of the Garnaut Review on the likely effect of human induced climate change on Australia’s economy, environment, and water resources in the absence of effective national and international efforts to substantially cut greenhouse gas emissions. In this report, Professor Garnaut indicates that interim targets are important, that allocating a global emissions budget on a per capita basis makes sense and that it is in Australia’s interest to seek the strongest feasible global mitigation outcomes – 450 ppm, as Australia would suffer exceptionally from unmitigated climate change. The report confirms that only urgent, large, and effective global policy change leaves any hope of holding atmospheric concentrations at the 450 ppm or even the 550 ppm levels.
Download from: Garnaut Climate Change Review (pdf 634 kb)
February 2008
McKinsey & Company Australia
According to the report, which modelled the costs of over 100 abatement measures over six industry sectors, a 30 percent reduction below 1990 levels in Australian GHG emissions is achievable by 2020 and 60 percent by 2030, without major technological breakthroughs or lifestyle changes. The report says that reducing emissions is affordable, with an average annual gross cost of approximately A$290 per household to reduce emissions in 2020 to 30 percent below 1990 levels.
Download from: An Australian Cost Curve for Greenhouse Gas Reduction (pdf 586 kb)
February 2008
US Department of Energy
This report outlines the actions taken by 13 energy-intensive industry sectors in the USA to improve greenhouse gas emissions intensity of their operations from 2002 to 2006. The report indicates that the power and energy-intensive industrial sectors improved their combined emissions intensity by 9.4 percent over this four year period, and in 2006, actual greenhouse gas emissions for these sectors fell a combined 1.4 percent.
Download from: Climate VISION Progress Report 2007 (pdf 1.8 MB)
December 2007
The Climate Institute
This report looks at the economics of three emissions reduction scenarios for Australia, characterised as Free rider, Follower and Leader. The modelling suggests that achieving a 40-100% reduction in net emissions by 2050 is consistent with strong economic growth. The report argues that Australia can afford to take a leadership position in committing to substantial reductions in our net greenhouse emissions, in order to help manage the economic risks to Australia, and to contribute to the global momentum and concrete actions required to avoid dangerous global climate change.
Download from: Leader, Follower or Free Rider (pdf 851 kb)
November 2007
UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance (CEMEP) was established by Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer in November 2006 in the light of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. Its remit was to advise Government on how the UK could make the most of the potential economic benefits of the transition to a low carbon, sustainable economy. The report sets out the analysis that underpins the Commission’s consideration of environmental markets, the approach it recommends to developing policy, and how business should respond to its recommended framework. The report then goes on to describe the actions that the Commissioners believe should be taken by Government, business and others to drive investment and innovation in environmental markets in the UK.
Download from: Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance (pdf 500 kb)
November 2007
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
The UNFCCC prepares an annual report on the level of greenhouse gas emissions from data provided by each country (national inventory reports). The 2007 report provides emission data up to 2005.
Download from: National greenhouse gas inventory data for the period 1990-2005 (pdf 235 kb)
November 2007
UN IPCC
The Synthesis Report forms the final part of "Climate Change 2007", the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. Earlier this year, the IPCC released the other three reports: "The physical science basis" "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" and "Mitigation of Climate Change". The Synthesis Report is the decisive effort to integrate and compact this wealth of information into a readable and concise document explicitly targeted to the policymakers. The summary for policy makers is downloadable, but the full report needs to be ordered from Cambridge University Press.
Download from: UN IPCC Fourth Synthesis Report (pdf 6.4 MB)
November 2007
Climate Institute
This report, prepared by Dr Graeme Pearman and the Climate Adaptation Science and Policy Initiative at the University of Melbourne provides more up to date information on climate change than available from the latest IPCC report. It suggests that the IPCC assessment is underestimating the risks of adverse impacts due to increased warming during this century and that impacts previously considered to be at the upper end of likelihood are now more probable.
Download from: Evidence of Accelerated Climate Change (pdf 288 kb)
November 2007
The World Bank
This working paper analyzes CO2 emissions reduction targets for various countries and geopolitical regions by the year 2030 in order to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of CO2 at the level of 450 ppm (550 ppm including non CO2 greenhouse gases). It also determines CO2 intensity cuts that would be needed in those countries and regions if the emission reductions were achieved through intensity-based targets while assuming no effect on forecasted economic growth. Considering that the stabilization of CO2 concentrations at 450 ppm requires the global trend of CO2 emissions to reverse before 2030, this study develops two scenarios: reversing the global CO2 trend in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2025. The study shows that global CO2 emissions would be 42 percent above the 1990 level in 2030 if the increasing trend of global CO2 emissions is reversed by 2020.
Download from: Atmospheric Stabilization of CO2 Emissions (pdf 760 kb)
October 2007
Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Asset Management
The report by Deutsche Bank has identified seven mega trends which they believe will shape the Asset Management industry in the coming years, in particular a shift away from a carbon-based economy will be most influential. The Bank sees strong growth in investment in industries and companies that are involved in both the mitigation of, and the adaptation to, climate change. They highlight industries in the energy efficiency and clean technology fields as well as those involved in work in the field of adaptation to climate change. They see the power sector falling into the mitigation sector, which they divide into climate change strategies and new resources strategies. The former contains the renewable energy technologies, and the latter the "Clean Technologies" including natural resources, emission efficient power generation, energy efficiency, building management, heating and cooling systems, lighting systems, insulation, impact management / damage limitation, infrastructure / rebuilding, consumer electronics and new materials.
Download from: Investing In Climate Change (pdf 2.1 MB)
October 2007
U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research
This report summarises what is currently known about effects of climate change on energy production and use in the United States. It looks at how climate change might affect energy consumption, production and use in the United States through issues such as the likely increase in electricity demand for air conditioning and the possible reduction in hydropower. The report also looks at the possible effects of climate change policies on energy technology choices and energy security.
Download from: Effects of climate change on energy production and use in the United States (pdf 1.1 MB)
October 2007
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra
This preliminary report, commissioned by the Agricultural Alliance on Climate Change, aims to help identify the potential, problems and priorities for rural businesses and communities in contributing to Australian action on climate change. It focuses on the prospects for rural Australians becoming valued service providers in three important areas of Australia's low carbon future: providing clean energy and electricity; mobilising agricultural mitigation and greenhouse gas offsets; and supporting environmental stewardship on private land.
Download from: Rural Australia Providing Climate Solutions (pdf 3.7 MB)
September 2007
Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics
ABARE has undertaken an assessment of the impacts of a concerted effort within APEC economies to develop and widely deploy current and advanced energy effiecient and low emission technologies and energy sources across all sectors of the economy. However even with the widespread uptake of these technologies, APEC emissions in 2050 will still likely be well above those of 2004.
Download from: Energy security, clean technology development and climate change (pdf 993 kb)
August 2007
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
A new report from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) finds that far more investment is needed to hold greenhouse gas emissions in check, especially in developing countries.
Download from: UN analysis of investment needed to address climate change (pdf 26 kb)
August 2007
US Department of State
The fourth CAR provides an update on key activities conducted by the U.S. since the third CAR, an inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks, an estimate of the effects of mitigation measures and policies on future emissions levels. The report also discusses U.S. national circumstances that affect U.S. vulnerability and responses to climate change. The report takes into account activities up to and including 2006.
Download from: U.S. Climate Action Report 2006 (html)