Australia’s big emitters could cut CO2 by 90% by 2050 without offsets, report finds

(The Guardian, 20 Feb 2023) Report finds that supply chains for major industries, including iron and steel, could cut annual CO2 to 17m tonnes by mid-century

Some of Australia’s largest heavy industrial companies have backed a report that says they could cut direct greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains by more than 90% by 2050, and not have to rely heavily on carbon offsets.

The report, by the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI), prepared over three years by Climateworks Centre and the CSIRO, found the industrial transition would cost the equivalent of $21bn a year over three decades if Australia were to play its part in trying to limit global heating to 1.5C.

It has landed during a political debate over the safeguard mechanism, the Coalition policy that the Albanese government says it wants to revamp to reduce the CO2 emitted by Australia’s 215 biggest polluting industrial facilities. The Greens have offered to support Labor’s plan if it agrees not to approve any more coal and gas mines, a step the government says it will not take.

The report, Pathways to industrial decarbonisation, looked at five major supply chains for industries – including iron, steel, aluminium, chemicals and liquified natural gas (LNG). It found they could cut annual CO2 from 221m tonnes in 2020 to 17m tonnes by mid-century while steel and iron production rose by nearly 20% and aluminium production by more than 30%.

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The Guardian, 20 Feb 2023: Australia’s big emitters could cut CO2 by 90% by 2050 without offsets, report finds