Published by Australian Academy of Science
Activity 2 | Enhanced greenhouse effect – a hot international topic

Data on carbon dioxide emissions

The following graph shows carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from various sectors of the community for five OECD countries in 1992.

1. Which of the five countries produces the greatest percentage of its CO₂ emissions from:
   1. industry;
   2. transport;
   3. agriculture;
   4. providing services;
   5. households?

2. Which country produces the lowest percentage of its CO₂ emissions from industry?

3. In which sector(s) should Australia try to reduce CO₂ emissions?

4. Much of the electricity consumed by Australian industry is used for processing metals (eg, we turn bauxite (an ore) into pure aluminium metal, which we export).
   1. If we exported the raw bauxite, what effect would this have on our CO₂ emissions?
   2. How is Australia advantaged by processing bauxite before it is exported; how is it disadvantaged?