According to the Australian government, the country will be the world’s first nation that will put a price on carbon emitted into the atmosphere (US$24.6) starting July next year.
A recent study shows that Australia has one of the highest rates of greenhouse gas emissions per head of population. The 22.6 million Aussies are also responsible for around 1.3 per cent of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions.
The new carbon tax plan aims to reduce carbon emissions by 5 percent, relative to 2000 levels, by the end of 2020.
This is equivalent to removing 45 million cars from the road. Besides this, the government hopes that by 2050 to cut country’s carbon emissions by 80 per cent.
This plan was revealed by Australia’s prime minister Julia Gilliard in an address to the nation. “We are going to create a clean energy future,” she declared.
The money obtained from this project will go towards funding energy efficiency initiatives, low pollution measures and renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar and geothermal power.
[via New Scientist]
