It can mainly be attributed to Victoria's four large brown coal generators running at greater capacity more often as the electricity they generate became cheaper. Output from the ageing Latrobe Valley quartet was up about nine per cent. Loy Yang coal power plant near Traralgon in the Latrobe Valley. With the exception of burning oil for power – a practice favoured in Saudi Arabia – burning brown coal is the most greenhouse-intensive way to create electricity. Cutting emissions from the electricity supply is widely considered the central battle in tackling climate change in coming decades. It pumps out about a third of Australia's carbon pollution.

The new data comes as the federal cabinet is set to this month consider Australia's climate change targets beyond 2020 amid international pressure over Prime Minister Tony Abbott's contrarian stance on the issue. Hugh Saddler, Pitt & Sherry's principal energy consultant, said despite claims the carbon price did nothing for the environment, it had triggered a big fall in coal generation and an increase in output from hydro power stations. "It clearly did reduce emissions from electricity generation, and particularly from brown coal," he said. He said the big hydro power generators, particularly Hydro Tasmania, made a commercial decision to run their plants aggressively while the carbon price was in place because they feared it would not last given the Coalition's pledge to repeal it. It meant they were highly profitable in 2013-14, and cut back to allow storages to replenish once the price was repealed.

Hydro Tasmania's Gordon Dam in south-west Tasmania. Source: Peter Mathew. Wind-power generation grew slightly last year, but is expected to flatline over the next 18 months, reflecting an investment freeze since the start of last year. While Australia's electricity emissions have risen, government forecasts for Australia's total emissions over coming years have been markedly reduced due to worsening agricultural conditions, declining manufacturing output and demand for coal, and changes in how the projections are calculated. It has prompted some analysts to suggest Australia could hit its target of a 5 per cent cut by 2020 while doing little. But energy economists say the rebound in electricity emissions underlines that Australia will not reach long-term targets without a revamped policy aimed at making electricity generation cleaner.

Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said the new data showed it was important to have a dispassionate look at the role played by the repealed carbon pricing laws. He said the package included a limit on pollution, a plan to move to a low-carbon economy, and pension increases and tax cuts that left most better off. In April, the government rolled out the first round of its "direct action" climate policy, announcing it would buy 47 million tonnes of emissions cuts over the next decade at a cost of $660 million. Many of the projects involved paying companies to plant or protect native trees, or cut emissions from landfill sites. Clean Energy Regulator chief executive Chloe Munro told a Senate estimates hearing in May that 107 of the 144 projects paid for under direct action already existed under the carbon price, prompting accusations taxpayers were paying for work that was already under way. The leaders of the G7 industrialised nations last month agreed that deep cuts in global emissions were required, and said they would strive to use low-carbon sources to transform their energy sectors by mid-century. China – now easily the world's biggest polluter – last week announced a target of reducing its emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 per cent by 2030. Economist Frank Jotzo, from the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU, said preliminary data suggested China's coal use was lower in 2014 than 2013, and that after years of soaring growth its total emissions were static.

The Xinwu coal mine near Liulin, in China's Shanxi Province. Source: Qilai Shen The Pitt & Sherry analysis, to be released on Monday, found that after years of flattening electricity demand it dropped only 0.3 per cent last year. Dr Saddler said the dip in consumption had nothing to do with the carbon price – it started years earlier – but the pricing scheme had a big impact on the mix of electricity generation. He said electricity consumption has now started to rise again. Dr Saddler said it was expected to continue to rise - partly due to demand from three massive liquid natural gas projects in Queensland, which will require roughly as much electricity as all of Tasmania; partly due to population growth offseting improvements in household energy efficiency. This was backed by a recent analysis by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Electricity consumption in the national grid dipped and has started rising again - a trend that is projected to continue. Source: Australian Energy Market Operator. What you may have missed ▪ China, Brazil and the US each announced new climate and clean energy commitments ahead of the Parids summit. ▪ The Climate Change Authority released its final recommendations for Australia's greenhouse target, calling for it to cut emissions to 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025. To put this into perspective, using a 2005 baseline (the government's preference), Australia's existing target equates to a 13 per cent cut by 2020.

▪ Advocacy for action on climate change made for some unlikely combinations. US President Barack Obama assumed the role of broadcast interviewer to quiz naturalist Sir David Attenborough, largely about climate change, in a special filmed at the White House. And the Pope signed up activist and author Naomi Klein in his fight to convince the developed world to make deep cuts in emissions. Barack Obama at home, interviewing Sir David Attenborough. Follow Adam on Twitter. Or email him: amorton@fairfaxmedia.com.au