Australia's carbon dioxide emissions went up in 2011 due to more vehicle use and gases that leaked from coalmines. It resulted in the release of 546 million tonnes of more C02 from those two sources. The data came from Australia's report of the National Greenhouse Accounts to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The hike represents a 0.6 per cent increase compared to 2010 figures, but lesser than the peak in 2008. Despite the increase, the level of greenhouse gas emissions is still within Australia's commitment under the Kyoto Protocol which allows up to 108 per cent increase of GHG output in 1990. The 2011 data estimates the CO2 emissions are 104 per cent of 1990 level.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the hike was still in line with government forecast and only shows the need for a carbon price to lead to more investment in renewable energy.

However, the Opposition which has been battling the carbon tax, cited the CO2 figures as reasons for the Gillard government not to push through with the carbon price on July 1.

"Australians are already playing their part in reducing emissions and caring for the environment.... Slugging people with an electricity tax on top of the massive rises to date is therefore not only unfair on families but also unnecessary and ineffective," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted

The data means that the average CO2 emission by every Australian is 24.3 tonnes yearly, which is higher than the level of per capita CO2 emission in the U.S. despite the 3.2 per cent rise in U.S. GHG to 6.8 billion metric tonnes in 2010. However, the higher CO2 emission in the U.S. is also an indicator that the country has recovered from the recession caused by the 2008 global financial crisis. The U.S. peak was in 2007 when it emitted 7.25 billion metric tonnes of GHG.

By state, New South Wales had the highest level of GHG with 157.4 million tonnes of C02 emitted followed by Queensland with 157.3 million and Victoria 117.9 million.

The largest increase in emissions were fugitive emissions from coalmines, which refers to methane trapped underground that leaks out when the coal is dug up. Tailpipe emissions from vehicles also increased 4.8 per cent to 87 million tonnes of CO2 from 83 million.

However, emissions from electricity generation went down by 0.9 per cent due to the cooler spring and summer weather.

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