Sustainability Report 2005-2006
Department of the Environment and Water Resources, 2007
Australian Antarctic Division Environmental Performance
Indirect greenhouse gas emissions
EN30: Other relevant indirect greenhouse gas emissions
Goals 2005-06
Identify and assess options for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions associated with business related air travel.
Develop and implement a policy to reduce taxi use where effective public transport alternatives exist.
Performance 2005-06 and Trends
The main sources of indirect greenhouse gas emissions associated with DEH’s operations are air travel, non green-power components of electricity supplied to DEH sites and taxi use. Comprehensive data on indirect emissions from non green power are currently not available for all DEH sites
In 2004-05, DEH’s indirect greenhouse emissions for staff air travel and taxi use (all of DEH), plus non-accredited greenpower use in Canberra only, amounted to 8512 tonnes of CO2-e. In comparison, the total direct emissions of our Canberra operations were 385 tonnes.
DEH staff flew 9 326 053 fewer kilometres in 2005-06 than in 2004-05 (a 19% decrease). This resulted in the emission of 2462 fewer tonnes of greenhouse gases than in 2004-05 (a decrease of 29%), the equivalent of taking 844 cars off Australian roads.
In 2004-05, DEH spent $379 000 on taxis, which travelled 206 345 kilometres and produced 50.76 tonnes of CO2-e. In 2005-06, DEH spent $577 608 on taxis (an increase of $198 608, or 52%), which emitted 77.36 tonnes of CO2-e. Our indirect greenhouse emissions from taxi use increased by 26.6 tonnes of CO2-e between the two years.
| Source (tonnes CO2-e) | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air travel | 8512 | 6050 | -29% |
| Taxis | 51 | 77 | +51% |
| Total | 8563 | 6127 | -28% |
In total, DEH indirect greenhouse emissions from air travel and taxi use for 2005-06 decreased by 28%% or 2426 tonnes of CO2-e.
Commentary
DEH continued with analysis of our indirect emissions, including those from air travel, in 2005-06. Several options have been identified for offsetting our direct and indirect emissions, including the purchase of offsets from abatement providers, but also the potential to generate our own abatement, through initiatives such as fuel-switching at remote Parks sites. Further work on these issues will continue in 2006-07 as part of the development of a new Greenhouse Challenge Plus agreement for DEH.
No new formal policy addressing taxi use was developed and implemented in 2005-06, though staff from the Australian Greenhouse office continued to support Travel Smart initiatives for employee travel, including the provision of pre-purchased tickets for public transport.
Goals 2006-07
- Include consideration of opportunities to offset DEH’s emissions as part of the new Greenhouse Challenge Plus agreement by end June 2007
- Promote to staff the options available for public transport alternatives to taxi use, especially between airports and major metropolitan centres.
Related Indicators
AAD Indicators
Contents
- Sustainability Report 05-06
- Executive summary
- Vision and strategy
- Our organisation
- Governance
- Policy and influence
- Environmental performance
- Social performance
- Economic performance
- Report assurance statement
- Case studies
- GRI index
Key
Links to another web site
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