FILE -- This Dec. 7, 2011 file photo shows Arizona State Senate Majority Leader Andy Biggs (R) speaking to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission in Phoenix. It's early on in the Arizona legislative session, but so far the proposals described by one top Republican as "esoteric" and criticized by Democrats as unconstitutional have dominated the headlines. Biggs and House Speaker Andy Tobin are tasked with determining whether proposals advance to a full legislative debate. AP Photo/Matt York, file)
9pc drop in emissions from power generators
Published: 06:56:04 AM, Mon 11 February 2013 UTC
There has been a 9 per cent drop in emissions from electricity generators during the first six months of carbon pricing, a Senate committee has been told.
Last July the Federal Government introduced a carbon price of $23 per tonne for businesses that are big polluters.
Jenny Wilkinson from the Department of Climate Change and Renewable Energy says that since then, there has been a reduction in demand for energy.
She says the early results are due to several factors.
"Increased uptake of renewables on account of the Renewable Energy Target, changes in manufacturing; there's a range of different things which are contributing to this," she said.
"The latest data from the Australian Energy Market operator suggests that emissions from electricity generation have fallen by about 8.6 per cent in the first six months of the year."
The cost businesses now have to pay are set to increase between now and 2015 when there will be a shift towards a trading scheme that will allow the market to set the charges.
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