Rising Coal Production, Falling Emissions

This report by Ember examines the discrepancy between Australia's increasing coal production and its decreasing reported fugitive emissions, attributing the trend to mining method shifts, mine closures, and accounting changes rather than systemic emissions reductions.

• Australia's net emissions were estimated at 434.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2-e) in the September 2024 update, representing a 29% reduction from 2005 and a 32% reduction from 1990 levels of 640.6 Mt CO2-e.
• The electricity sector has been a primary driver of emissions reductions, with emissions now 23.4% lower than in 2005, supported by Australia becoming the ninth-highest absolute generator of solar and wind electricity and having the world's highest rates of rooftop solar generation.
• Despite a 170% increase in raw coal production between 1990 and 2022—rising from 201 million tonnes to 542 million tonnes—fugitive emissions from coal mining grew by only 0.17% in the same period, resulting in a 63% decrease in average fugitive emissions intensity per tonne of coal.
• Reported coal mine fugitive emissions decreased by 7.6% in the 2024 financial year and have reduced by over 20% since 2005. This trend is attributed to a shift toward open-cut mining, the unplanned closure of 'super-emitting' underground mines (such as the Grosvenor mine), and changes in how open-cut mine emissions have been calculated over the last 15 years.
• Specific mitigation projects have contributed to emissions reductions, including the West Cliff Colliery's VAM-to-power project, which reduced 2 million tonnes of CO2-e between 2007 and 2017, and Anglo American's pre-mine drainage investments, which potentially mitigated up to 5.3 million tonnes of CO2-e compared to 2019 levels.

APA

Ember (2025). Rising Coal Production, Falling Emissions. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/rising-coal-production-falling-emissions/

Chicago

Ember. Rising Coal Production, Falling Emissions. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/rising-coal-production-falling-emissions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Rising Coal Production, Falling Emissions |date=27 March 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/rising-coal-production-falling-emissions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025rising, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Rising Coal Production, Falling Emissions}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/rising-coal-production-falling-emissions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }