Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions fell slightly in the September quarter compared to the previous period, but have increased over the year.

Government data released on Thursday shows emissions for the September quarter last year decreased by 1.4 per cent compared with the previous quarter, but were 0.9 per cent higher than the previous year.

While emissions are declining in the electricity sector, this progress is outweighed by rises in transport and industrial energy, fuelled by a 19.7 per cent increase in LNG exports.

This also accounts for increases in emissions from the burning of fuels in the manufacturing, mining, residential and commercial sectors.

These “stationary energy” emissions in the year to September increased by 5.9 per cent, and increased 1.4 per cent in the September quarter compared to June.

Emissions per capita reached their lowest level in 29 years, but Australia’s population grew by 46 per cent in the same period.

Electricity generation is the biggest source of Australia’s total emissions, accounting for 33.7 per cent in the year to September 2018.

In the same period, emissions from electricity decreased by 3.2 per cent on the previous year.

Power generation from renewables decreased by 11.3 per cent in the December quarter, compared to a 22.4 per cent increase in the September period.

Wind generation in the National Electricity Market was down 19.6 per cent in the December quarter and hydro generation was down 34.6 per cent.

-AAP