There's a problem with how Australia is measuring its greenhouse gas emissions
Australia uses outdated techniques to estimate its greenhouse gas emissions, which are being grossly under-reported. New satellite monitoring technologies are needed to boost accuracy, according to the Superpower Institute's Rod Sims
Former competition tsar turned clean energy advocate Rod Sims has warned Australia could be drastically underestimating its greenhouse gas emissions and is calling on authorities to adopt the latest satellite monitoring technology to more accurately measure the nation's carbon footprint.
But Sims, as chair of the Ross Garnaut-backed green think-tank, the Superpower Institute, still believes Australia can play a massive role in decarbonising the planet if it seizes an opportunity to adopt renewable energy technologies at scale and becomes a major exporter.
The National Emissions Monitoring Roadmap developed by the think tank’s climate scientists sets out a framework to improve the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, which are currently calculated using carbon intensity estimates known as “emissions factors”.
If greenhouse gas emissions were calculated at source, this would help improve the accuracy of data collection and would give Australia an accurate picture of the 30 different gases that are currently emitted in the course of everyday economic activity, Sims said in an interview with Capital Brief.
