HUNTER coalmines and industries are prominent on the list of the big carbon emitters that will be obliged to participate in the overhaul of the Coalition-designed Safeguard Mechanism, unveiled on Tuesday by Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
The revamped plan requires affected businesses to cut their emissions by 4.9 per cent annually as part of the government's plan to bring greenhouse gases to 43 per cent below their 2005 level by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050.
Although industry peak bodies have generally reacted favourably to the news, individual businesses are looking for more detail.
This is especially the case for such businesses as Tomago Aluminium, which are classed as "emissions intensive trade-exposed industries", and which the government is promising to help with a "tailored approach".
But regardless of the eventual details, the program is expected to push up the cost of doing business.
The latest figures from the federal Clean Energy Regulator show Tomago Aluminium reporting almost 8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year - comprising almost 1.2 million tonnes of Scope One emissions and 6.7 million tonnes of Scope Two emissions.
A spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said the necessary 4.9 per cent a year emissions reduction applied only to Scope One emissions.
Reducing the 2020-21 total of 1,181,106 tonnes by 4.9 per cent would mean cutting 57,874 tonnes in the first year of a process that would continue seeking further reductions until 2030.
Were Tomago to do that by buying carbon permits that Canberra is capping at $75 a tonne would cost about $4.3 million in the first year.
Mr Bowen's spokesperson said the current market price was $35 a tonne, implying a $2 million cost in the first year.
Although the government says the electricity sector is exempt from the program, power generators dominate the emissions lists published by the Clean Energy Regulator.
The list is topped by power company AGL, which operates the Liddell and Bayswater power stations as well as Victoria's Loy Yang A brown coal station, which it says supplies 30 per cent of that state's power.
Its 2020-21 emissions topped 40.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent - almost all of them Scope One.
Origin Energy, which owns Australia's biggest power station, Eraring, is number four on the list, with 17.1 million tonnes of emissions.
Delta, operator of Vales Point power station, reported 6.4 million tonnes of C02 equivalent, in 14th spot.
Kooragang Island's Orica, which has begun a series of projects to reduce its emissions and improve its efficiency, is No 40 on the list, with 1.39 tonnes of Scope One emissions and 159,000 tonnes of Scope Two.
The Clean Energy Regulator says 931 corporations reported 315 million tonnes of Scope One emissions and 84 million tonnes of Scope Two emissions in 2020-21, with the top 10 accounting for almost half (46.2 per cent) of the Scope One total.
Scope One are direct emissions and Scope Two are indirect emissions from energy consumption.
The Minerals Council of Australia said miners represented about half the businesses covered by the policy, and stressed a need to ensure trade-exposed export industries remained "strong and competitive".
Miners on the list include Rio Tinto, with 7.4 million tonnes of Scope One emissions, the 11th highest, and another 7.8 million tonnes of Scope Two. Glencore, one of the Hunter's largest coal producers, registered more than 7.3 million tonnes.
Port Kembla steelworks (Bluescope) is 13th with 7.4 million tonnes while Liberty Primary Metals (Whyalla steelworks and the Newcastle rolling mills), is 23rd, with 3.8 million tonnes.
Qantas is 26th with 2.46 million tonnes of Scope One emissions, followed by big Hunter miner Yancoal with 2.42 million tonnes.
Hunter-based Centennial Coal is 34th with emissions of 1.9 million tonnes.
Although Tomago (named as "Pechiney" in the list) is only 46th in the list of Scope One emissions, it is the second highest Scope Two emitter, after Rio Tinto and ahead of another aluminium company, Alcoa.
Coles (6th) and Woolworths (11th) are prominent on the Scope Two list.
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this article included the Hunter's coal-fired power stations in the list of businesses involved in the Safeguard Mechanism scheme.
The office of Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen confirmed this morning that power stations were not involved.
The original article also counted Scope Two CO2 emissions, which the minister's office says are not involved.
The follow-up article with comments from Mr Bowen's office is here.
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