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Green Queensland - Carbon footprint

2020 target: Cut Queenslanders' carbon footprint by one third with reduced car and electricity use

Measure: emissions from electricity use, fuel consumption and waste to landfill per household in Queensland (source: Environmental Protection Agency).

Lead agency: Environmental Protection Agency.

Queensland's current carbon footprint

A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gas (or carbon dioxide equivalent) that's produced from our daily activities over the course of a year.

Queensland creates 30% of Australia's emissions despite having only 20% of the national population.

The majority of our emissions are generated by power stations and the agriculture and transport sectors. Major reforms, such as the creation of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, will reduce industry emissions.

But Queensland households also have a big role to play in tackling climate change.

The average Queensland household generates approximately 13.77 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (our household carbon footprint). The average Queenslander's carbon footprint is larger than the rest of the world.

South-East Queensland alone uses more electricity than the whole of South Australia. We're using power-hungry appliances, such as larger televisions, computers and air-conditioners.

The two other big energy users contributing to high personal emissions are car use and waste.

Changing our behaviour in these three areas is where we can have the biggest personal impact on climate change.

Achievements since September 2007

Committed to a new $60 million ClimateSmart Home Service, starting in January 2009, to install energy saving devices in Queensland homes and give advice on ways to reduce carbon footprint.
Invested $7 million to build a solar thermal power station in Cloncurry, which will supply the town's electricity needs 24 hours a day.

Challenges

Understanding climate change: While Queenslanders are concerned about climate change and its impacts, 34% still aren't sure what they can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or deal with climate change.

Attitudes to public transport: in 2006 the most common reasons Queenslanders gave for not using public transport were that services weren't available when they needed them and driving was more convenient and comfortable.

Rising demand for electricity: Queensland's demand for electricity is growing faster than any other state in Australia. If current trends continue, electricity consumption is expected to increase by 45% within the next 10 years.

Demand for public transport: demand for public transport, particularly in growth areas, is putting pressure on the public transport network. However, access to public transport options is limited in many parts of regional Queensland.

Increasing consumption of processed foods: we're consuming products that tend to be more processed and packaged than ever before, which means we use more energy and produce more waste for each kilogram of goods we buy and use.

Achieving the target

If we want to reduce the impact of climate change on Queensland, we all must take action to reduce our own impact on the earth.

The Queensland Government will play its part by:

investing in renewable and low-emission energy technologies to supply cleaner electricity to Queenslanders
continuing to fund more public transport services, to reduce dependence on cars
supplying information and tools to help Queenslanders reduce their carbon footprint
encouraging reuse and recycling of resources to reduce waste
leading by example, by reducing the emissions created by government buildings and vehicles.

We need the Australian Government to support our efforts, including by providing incentives for Queenslanders to switch to renewable energy supplies.

We need you to contribute too. This might be by riding a bike to work or by your community arranging a “walking bus” where volunteers coordinate groups of school children to safely walk to school.

Tomorrow's Queensland