The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) today welcomed Federal Government plans to phasedown hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerantsas part of emissions reduction targets, committing to an 85 per cent phasedown of HFCs by 2036.
ARC CEO Glenn Evans said Australia is a leader in regulating and handling HFC refrigerants under the ARCTick licence scheme, minimising emissions for the past 10 years.
"This announcement provides some certainty to the refrigeration and air conditioning industry regarding the likely future supplies of HFCs and equipment using HFC refrigerant," he said.
According to the Department of the Environment’s latest quarterly update of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Australia’s emissions have fallen to their lowest level for a single quarter in 10 years.
Emissions fell by half a million tonnes between the December Quarter 2014 and March Quarter 2015 – that’s a 0.4 per cent reduction in trend terms and 0.5 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, said emissions per person are now at their lowest level in 25 years. He said since 1990 Australia’s population has grown 39 per cent, yet emissions per capita have fallen by 29 per cent.
"The Government’s post-2020 target announced last week will see emissions per person fall by at least 50 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 – the largest reduction in the developed world on announced targets," Hunt said.
"Emissions intensity will fall by 64 per cent on 2005 levels under Australia’s post-2020 target.
"We are on track to meet and beat our target of cutting Australia’s emissions by five per cent from 2000 levels by 2020, and we have a strong and credible target for the post-2020 period."
Hunt also announced the second Emissions Reduction Fund auction will be held on November 4-5, 2015.