Greenhouse gas audit for western Australia

The second greenhouse gas audit for Western Australia follows significant policy and scientific advances in the climate change arena. The United Nations Framework on Climate Change has been ratified by Australia and has been in force since March 1994. There are also policy implications leading from the discovery of the complex effects of secondary or 'indirect' global warming potentials of greenhouse gases, and the effects of the depletion of the ozone layer on the global warming. The present audit is based on the methodology of the Draft Australian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory in order to be commensurate with national and international inventory work. There remain significant gaps in the audit information base. Some of these could be filled by further research while others would be filled by better cooperation from relevant government departments. The audit found that, despite some worthwhile efforts in energy conservation and recycling, most sectors have greatly increased their greenhouse gas emissions, in particular construction and electricity generation. Two exceptions were the transport sector which showed a very small increase in emissions, and the agriculture sector which showed a decline. An energy policy based on increased use of gas and renewables rather than coal would make a great contribution to greenhouse gas reductions and there are many opportunities for simple and cheap greenhouse gas reduction.