Due to the large amount of emissions, the Australian government has been urged to shut down the country’s most polluting coal-fired power plants. According to a study from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), 10 companies emitted – directly and indirectly – 158m tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2013-2014, and are therefore responsible for a third of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The list is headed by Energy Australia, while Macquarie Generation and AGL Energy are in second and third position. Following the analysis’ outcome – which highlights the large scale of greenhouse gas emitted by the country’s most polluting industries – many criticise the lack of incentives for companies to stop using fossil fuels, and are urging the Australian government to introduce new regulations on coal-fired power plants to ensure that the largest carbon dioxide polluters shut down. ACF’s president Geoff Cousins believes the best solution would be to issue a US-style regulation, similar to the US administration’s direct regulations that made coal-fired plants impossible to maintain without high-priced carbon capture technology. The ACF also says that – in order to phase out fossil fuels – Australia should switch to wind and solar energy, and reports data from the Energy Supply Association of Australia that shows how already allocated wind and solar energy projects could provide a quarter of Australia’s electricity demand by 2023-2024. A switch to renewable energies would also help Australia’s achievement of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) target of pashing out fossil fuel energy without largely unproven carbon capture technology by the end of the century. The gLAWcal Team POREEN project Thursday, 19 March 2015 (Source: Guardian)