Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity in Australia
Australia: Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity was 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 2023. ▼ Falling
Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity in Australia, 1990–2023
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour.
Analysis
Australia recorded 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour for electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.4% on the previous year and down 23.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in Australia peaked at 730.61 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 1998 and was at its lowest, 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour, in 2023.
That places Australia 4th out of 39 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity in Australia, year by year
| Year | Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 707.55 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | — |
| 1991 | 710.31 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.4% |
| 1992 | 713.38 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.4% |
| 1993 | 708.85 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 713.08 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.6% |
| 1995 | 712.78 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.0% |
| 1996 | 721.87 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +1.3% |
| 1997 | 722.19 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 730.61 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +1.2% |
| 1999 | 725.99 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 727.63 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 730.22 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 712.27 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.5% |
| 2003 | 710.25 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 712.1 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 720.32 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 719.02 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 712.89 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.9% |
| 2008 | 713.42 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 709.51 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 694.02 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.2% |
| 2011 | 673.35 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -3.0% |
| 2012 | 675.27 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 649 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -3.9% |
| 2014 | 634.05 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 646.91 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +2.0% |
| 2016 | 641.99 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 633.58 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -1.3% |
| 2018 | 619.06 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.3% |
| 2019 | 600.56 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -3.0% |
| 2020 | 575.11 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -4.2% |
| 2021 | 549.85 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -4.4% |
| 2022 | 517.77 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -5.8% |
| 2023 | 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -4.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 716.66 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 707.55 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 730.61 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 10 |
| 2000s | 716.76 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 709.51 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 730.22 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 10 |
| 2010s | 646.78 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 600.56 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 694.02 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 10 |
| 2020s | 534.49 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 575.11 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 1 Poland 583.59 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 2 Estonia 530.03 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 3 Israel 498.13 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 5 Japan 460.56 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 6 Malta 437.86 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 7 Mexico 432.78 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
More climate change data for Australia
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 118,578 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 34,162 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 84,416 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 128.91 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 3,015 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 12,473 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 10,966 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 1,507 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 41.38 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 53.82 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in Australia?
- Electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in Australia was 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 2023, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 730.61 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 1998.
- What is the lowest electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 495.23 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 2023.
- How does Australia rank for electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity?
- Australia ranks 4th out of 39 countries with data for 2023.
- Is electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity generation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
This dataset provides indicators on electricity generation by source of energy in large (TL2) and small (TL3) regions. Data definition and source The electricity generation mix is based on both official subnational statistics and on estimates (see the data sources). The estimates for areas with missing official data are based on the electricity generation mix at the national level (based on the issued from the International Energy Agency (IEA) database, the location of electricity generation assets using the Global Power Plant Database (GPPD, Global Energy Observatory et al., 2018) and the harmonised global dataset on wind and solar installations (Dunnett et al., 2020). Electricity generation is estimated by matching energy sources across datasets, calculating each power plant's share of national capacity, and distributing the official regional and national generation accordingly across the different subnational areas. The carbon intensity of electricity generation is defined as the amount of CO2 equivalent emissions produced per unit of electricity generated (gCO2eq/kWh). It is obtained by applying emission factors to the different energy sources. Definition of regions Regions are subnational units below national boundaries. OECD countries have two regional levels: large regions (territorial level 2 or TL2) and small regions (territorial level 3 or TL3). For more information, see the OECD Territorial grid (pdf) and the OECD Territorial Correspondence Table (xlsx). Cite this dataset OECD Regions, Cities and Local Areas database http://oe.cd/geostats. Further information OECD Local Data Portal OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance For questions and/or comments, please email RegionStat@oecd.org.