Claims by the energy and emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, that Australia’s liquefied natural gas exports are reducing global emissions are “grossly exaggerated”, one of Australia’s most renowned climate scientists has said. Bill Hare, who has worked in climate science for 30 years, including on UN negotiations, has questioned Taylor’s statement that Australia’s LNG exports cut global emissions by up to 148m tonnes because they replace higher-emission alternatives such as coal. The minister defended the increase by saying that Australia’s exports were contributing to emissions reductions in countries that made use of Australia’s LNG in place of coal. He said there was no clear evidence that Australia’s increasing LNG exports were reducing global emissions. It’s still in the process of shifting from nuclear post-Fukushima, so it’s therefore going from a low greenhouse gas emissions fuel source to a high one.

Source: The Guardian June 07, 2019 07:41 UTC