Australian Youth Climate Coalition
  • ABOUT (current)
    About Our Values Climate Justice News Contact Jobs
  • CAMPAIGNS
    Campaign Action Hub No Public Money for Middle Arm Petition: End Public Money Handouts for Gas Climate Justice for Western Sydney Climate Solutions in Regional Qld
  • Get Involved
    Events Welcome Meetings Schools Program In-School Workshops
  • Volunteer Donate
Australian Youth Climate Coalition
Contact
  • ABOUT (current)

    About

    Our Values

    Climate Justice

    News

    Contact

    Jobs

  • CAMPAIGNS

    Campaign Action Hub

    No Public Money for Middle Arm

    Petition: End Public Money Handouts for Gas

    Climate Justice for Western Sydney

    Climate Solutions in Regional Qld

  • Get Involved

    Events

    Welcome Meetings

    Schools Program

    In-School Workshops

  • Volunteer
    Donate

What's going on with Middle Arm

There are 8 new proposed gas projects across the continent - opening just one of these would be catastrophic for the climate. Gas is a fossil fuel driving climate change - we do not need new gas to transition to renewable energy.

In Labor’s October 2022 Budget Update, they announced $1.9 billion for an industrial precinct called the Middle Arm. Located near Darwin, Middle Arm would include petrochemical processing and expanded gas export facilities. The project would also have renewable hydrogen production and critical minerals processing infrastructure. 

Image: Middle Arm, Darwin

According to environmental experts, Middle Arm’s gas export and processing infrastructure will help facilitate the opening of gas basins in the Beetaloo and Barossa. Gas extraction in these basins has faced strong opposition from Traditional Owners, and would release significant amounts of methane and CO2. 

Additionally, Middle Arm itself would have concerning impacts on emissions and local community health. The project would be the NT’s single largest emitter, raising the territory’s emissions by 75%, and would increase particulate pollution by over 500%,  resulting in $75 million in additional health costs, equivalent to 15 additional premature deaths per year.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has repeatedly called for countries to stop fossil fuel expansion. In the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment report in 2022, the panel reiterated that existing and currently planned fossil fuel projects already overshoot the world’s carbon budget. 

Australia currently has more than 116 major fossil fuel projects in development. Collectively, these projects could release 1.7bn tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, equivalent to 5% of global emissions. 43 of these major fossil fuel projects are for liquified natural gas (LNG), gas, and petroleum. Gas is highly emissions intensive, both as a fuel and in its production. Its primary emission, methane, is 84 times more potent than one tonne of carbon dioxide. 

Australia is currently the world’s largest exporter of LNG (24% of global exports), exporting 80 million tonnes of LNG per year. 70% of gas extracted in Australia is exported, with the remaining 30% split across homes, manufacturing, and electricity generation. 


Gas usage and exports:

Domestically, Australia already produces gas in excess of local needs. Domestic gas prices do not decrease in line with gas production; gas prices have surged in recent years despite a tripling in gas production over the past decade. Rather than bringing down domestic prices, surplus gas is just used for additional exports. Gas use has also fallen in recent years, reaching its lowest point in 15 years in 2021, making up just 5.7% of electricity generation for the national energy market. There are no reputable energy scenarios that show domestic gas use growing over coming decades.

Despite this, approximately 28% of Australia’s land mass is either under exploration for gas, or has active applications from gas companies. 70% of the NT, 59% of SA, 14% of WA and 13% of QLD is covered by licences or applications. The LNP also opened an additional 80,000km2 of offshore water to gas exploration.


Domestic gas cost and health:

Burning gas at home can have significant impacts on human health. Cooking with gas is estimated to have caused 12% of childhood asthma cases in Australia. Living in a house with gas cooking puts a child at similar risk of asthma to one living in a house with cigarette smoke. 

Switching from gas to electric appliances is better for a household’s health, and for their wallet; depending on location, households switching to all electric heating, cooking and hot water could save between $500 to $1900 a year.

Share Tweet

Continue Reading

Hundreds of Young People Rally in Brisbane for a Climate-Positive Federal Budget

25 Sep 2022

Our Letters of Hope in Parliament

3 Aug 2022

A Win for Big Renewables!

15 Dec 2021

2021 Budget: Young people call on Government to Fund Our Future Not Gas

10 May 2021

Show all posts

Help us maximise our impact:

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share via mail

Contact

Australian Youth Climate Coalition
60 Leicester Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053

Take Action

Donate
Volunteer
What's going on with Middle Arm

Quick links

News
Jobs
Privacy policy

Wherever we are in this country we respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land and their elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived sustainably and in harmony with the land for tens of thousands of years and together we are striving for the future of the land, air and waters that make up this beautiful country. We also acknowledge the work of Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, and their leadership in the youth climate movement.

Authorised by A Fuller, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Carlton

Created by Code Nation using NationBuilder