---

ENVIRONMENT

---

More detailed statistics about Tasmania are available in Excel format from the Downloads page.


WATER CONSUMPTION

Calculating water use by industry is not straightforward. Water use can include self-extracted water, distributed water, or reuse water. Calculating water use estimates for an industry or business is made more complicated when water is also supplied to other users, or when water is used in-stream.

Water consumption is equal to the sum of distributed, self-extracted and reuse water use less water supplied to other users, less in-stream use and less distributed water use by the environment.

Total water consumption in Tasmania for 2004-05 was approximately 434,300 megalitres (ML), an increase of 6.4% on the consumption of 408,200 ML in 2000-01. In 2004-05, the agricultural industry was the biggest water consumer of all industries, accounting for 59.4% of total water consumption, followed by households with 16.0%, and manufacturing with 11.3%.

WATER CONSUMPTION, Tasmania

IRRIGATION ACTIVITY

In 2008-09, from a total of 4,000 agricultural businesses in Tasmania, around 2,000 or 49.1% reported that they had irrigated their land. The North West region reported the highest number of agricultural businesses irrigating (38.5%) followed by the North (35.7%) and the South (25.7%).

In 2008-09, 88,000 hectares (5.4%) of all Tasmanian agricultural land were irrigated. The North West region reported the highest proportion (12.0%) of land irrigated, followed by the North (6.5%) and the South (1.8%).

Agricultural businesses in Tasmania in 2008-09 used a total of 262,300 ML or 3.0 ML per hectare to irrigate their land. The North region was the biggest user of water for irrigation. Its agricultural businesses used 51.4% of the total state water used for irrigation, using 3.0 ML per hectare. The North West region used 34.7% of the total state water for irrigation with an application rate of 2.9 ML per hectare followed by the South region with 13.9% of the total water used and application rate of 3.1 ML per hectare.

AREA IRRIGATED, 2008-09 (agricultural land)

WATER USED, 2008-09 (agricultural land)

ENERGY CONSUMPTIONIn 2008-09, Tasmanian industries consumed 116.3 petajoules (PJ) of energy, a decrease of 6.7% on 2007-08 energy consumption, and an increase of 0.1% on 2004-05.

The manufacturing industry in 2008-09 was the biggest Tasmanian energy consumer. It accounted for 37.5% of total energy consumption, followed by the transport industry with 21.8% and the residential sector with 14.6%.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION, Tasmania

ENERGY CONSUMPTION, Tasmania, 2008-09

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Tasmanian greenhouse gas emissions including Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), on a Kyoto accounting basis during the year ended 30 June 2008 were 9.1 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO₂-e) an increase of 7.1% on 2007 emissions of 8.5 Mt CO₂-e.

At the same time, Australian greenhouse gas emissions were 576.2 Mt CO₂-e, a 3.5% decrease on 2007 emissions of 597.2 Mt CO₂-e.

CO2 EQUIVALENT EMISSIONS, Tasmania

DOMESTIC ENERGY USE AND CONSERVATION

The main sources of energy in Tasmanian dwellings in March 2008 included: mains electricity (used by 99.1% of households), wood (35.1%) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG)/bottled gas (13.4%).

Almost three quarters of Tasmanian dwellings in March 2008 were insulated (74.6%), 45.5% of households used fluorescent lights, 50.3% used other energy saving lights and 64.9% used window treatments to stop the heat or cold.

In March 2009, 98.4% of Tasmanian households recycled their waste while 92.9% reused their waste. Of the waste items that were recycled or reused, the most common items included: glass (94% of households), paper/cardboard/newspapers (92.7%), plastic bags (91.6%) and plastic bottles (91.3%).




More detailed statistics about Tasmania are available in Excel format from the Downloads page.


SOURCES

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics - Bureau of Rural Sciences (ABARE-BRS)

Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

Environmental Issues: Energy Use and Conservation, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4602.0.55.001)

Environmental Issues: Waste Management and Transport Use (ABS cat. no. 4602.0.55.002)

Farm Management and Climate (ABS cat. no. 4625.0)

Natural Resource Management on Australian Farms (ABS cat. no. 4620.0)

Water Account Australia (ABS cat. no. 4610.0)

Water Use on Australian Farms (ABS cat. no. 4618.0)