The ACT's greenhouse gas emissions are falling steadily, but there is a still a long way to go to meet the territory's ambitious 2020 target, a progress report shows.
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The ACT government has a target of a 40 per cent reduction in emissions from the 1990 level by 2020, but emissions are still 25 per cent higher than 1990. Emissions peaked in 2010-11 at 4460 kilotonnes and have fallen each year since. In 2013-14 they dropped to an estimated 3995 kilotonnes, an average decrease of about 155 kilotonnes a year.
If Canberra is going to reach its 2010 target of 1911 kilotonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, it will have to reduce emissions at more than twice that rate.
To reach the target, the ACT government has embarked on a series of big-picture renewable energy projects, funding solar and wind farms, rooftop solar, and a waste-to-energy project at the tip. None of those show up in the latest figures.
The Royalla Solar farm was the first to begin operation, opening last year. Two other solar farms and three wind farms are expected to come online over the next two years. The government is also counting on its tram project to take cars off the road, but that isn't expected to begin operation until 2019.
The Interim ACT Greenhouse Gas Inventory, released by Environment Minister Simon Corbell, shows electricity from fossil-fuelled power stations is by far the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Canberra, contributing more than two-thirds of emissions. Next is transport, contributing 25 per cent.
Other contributors, such as industry and agriculture, are tiny by comparison.
While emissions from electricity are steadily declining, a decrease that should accelerate once the wind and solar farms come online, progress on transport is much slower. Transport emissions peaked in 2010-11 at 1023 kilotonnes, and have fallen little since.
Mr Corbell said the report showed the ACT was well on track to reaching its 40 per cent reduction target by 2020.
"The ACT's transformation to a carbon neutral-city is well under way," he said.
Per-capita emissions are already below 1990 levels.
The reduction in electricity use was due to changes in people's behaviour and better energy efficiency in buildings and appliances.
