Australia falls behind on road transport emissions

Australia is falling behind other developed economies in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity in motor vehicles, as of all new passenger cars sold in Australia in 2021 around 45pc had an emissions intensity of 160 g/km or less compared with 90pc in Europe.

Transport accounts for 18pc of Australia's GHG emissions and passenger vehicles are the largest contributor to the sector's emissions, according to a report by Australia's National Transport Commission (NTC).

Increased sales of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and the lack of choices for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles are tempering Australia's improvement in transport emissions, the report said.

Australia recorded a 179pc increase in sales of battery and plug-in hybrid EVs in 2021 against 2020, although the overall emissions intensity of all new cars sold in this period fell by 2pc. The sale of SUVs and four-wheel drive vehicles increased by more than 43,000 between 2020 and 2021, while large SUV sales increased by around 25,000. The emissions intensity for many large SUVs exceeds 210 g/km, with few options yet in Australia to purchase an equivalent size EV.

Around 2.8pc of new car sales in Australia were EVs, according to the IEA, compared with 17pc in Europe, 16pc in China, 5pc in the US and 4.4pc in New Zealand.

Australian sales of hybrid vehicles rose by 20pc in 2021 from 2020 to 70,506, with EV sales of 20,579 in 2021 from 7,388 in 2020, the NTC report said.

Legislation passed both houses of the Australian parliament last week to reduce the country's GHG emissions by 43pc by 2030 from 2005 levels. Much of the effort to reduce emissions in Australia has been in the electricity sector, which accounts for around a third of the country's emissions.

The federal government plans to release an EV strategy this month and is reconsidering introducing fuel efficiency standards for passenger vehicles as part of efforts to reduce emissions in the transport sector.

By Kevin Morrison