People and industry

Energy consumption is a critical aspect of modern life. It drives industrial processes, transportation and daily household activities.

Energy continues to be the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in NSW. About 80% of our total energy comes from non-renewable sources, such as fossil fuels, coal and gas.

As our population continues to grow, industry electrifies and more people purchase electric vehicles, it will become increasingly important to keep growing the renewable energy sector. This will require transitioning to renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar) for electricity generation, transport and industry to achieve net zero emissions.

See the and topics for more information.

Key findings from the 2024 report

• Declining overall energy consumption between 2020–21 and 2021–22 was dominated by a decline in transport energy consumption. It remains to be seen whether this was a result of COVID-19 lockdowns. Transport’s share of energy increased in 2022–23.
• In 2022–23, there was a major increase in electricity share delivered by renewable energy generation. It comprised about 34% of the State’s electricity generation.
• Residential energy use per capita in NSW increased by 2% between 2020–21 and 2022–23.
• Annual demand for electricity from the NSW grid declined by more than 14,000 gigawatt hours, or about 18% of total electricity demand, between 2008 and 2023. This was primarily driven by energy efficiency measures and the strong uptake of behind-the-meter rooftop photovoltaics.

Transport is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in NSW. This contributes to climate change and affects the health of our environment and communities.

International trends show a move away from fossil fuels. Many countries are seeing a significant uptake of electric vehicles. In Australia, there are more of these vehicles, but as a proportion of total vehicles sold, their number is well below where it needs to be.

Transport networks play a vital role in movement of people and goods. The infrastructure required to create networks, and the vehicles that use them, can have significant negative impacts.

As our population and economy grow, we must limit these impacts by moving away from non-renewable resources. We need to limit ecosystem destruction as we build infrastructure and plan for the increased temperatures as our climate changes.

Key findings from the 2024 report

• In 2022, road transport represented 89% (20.9 megatonnes) of the NSW transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and 21% of all NSW emissions. This is related to continued reliance on private vehicles, a preference for SUVs and lack of electric freight vehicles.
• Uptake of electric vehicles is increasing but overall numbers remain low, at 0.8% (52,572) of all road vehicle registrations in January 2024. This is an increase of 753% since 2021 when only 6,160 electric vehicles were registered.
• There has been a 16% increase in motor vehicle registrations since 2016, which is twice the population growth rate over that period (7.7%).
• In 2023, vehicles on NSW roads travelled 74.8 billion kilometres. This was a 12% increase since 2004. There was a significant drop during the period of COVID-19 restrictions.
• In the five years to June 2023, wildlife volunteers conducted 62,116 native animal rescues were due to motor vehicle collisions. Of these, 73% (45,803) died.

Water is vital in our everyday lives and in the environment around us. We use it in our households, industries, food production, cultural practices and for restoring the environment.

Access to clean, safe and reliable water is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of all people, communities, cultures, animals and plants.

There is less water available for human use than most people think. Only 1% of all water on earth is freshwater. Of this 1%, an even smaller percentage of that is accessible for human consumption, as most of it is contained in glaciers and polar ice sheets.

Globally, 92% of all water used produces agricultural products, with about 4.4% used for industrial products and 3.6% for domestic use.

Effective management and monitoring of water resources is essential to balancing human demands and maintaining a healthy environment.

Key findings from the 2024 report

• Total water use in the State increased from about 3,332 gigalitres in 2019–20 to just over 5,820 gigalitres in 2021–22. This has been attributed to increased water availability and eased restrictions following good rainfall.
• Just over 4,000 gigalitres of environmental water were delivered to rivers and wetland habitats across NSW between 2021–22 and 2023–24. This is the most water in any three-year period in the last decade. In 2023–24 alone 1,781 gigalitres were delivered.
• Annual per property residential water consumption has decreased since 2005–06. This indicates households have adopted measures to reduce their water use. The reduction per household was partially offset by our increasing population.
• All but one utility provided 100% of their population with water that met the guidelines for chemicals and contamination with E.coli (Inverell achieved 99.9%).
• The NSW government is beginning to address systemic issues to improve recognition of Aboriginal rights and access to water by strengthening the role of Aboriginal people in planning, governance and decision-making.

Worldwide, as economies have grown over the past half century, so has the generation of solid waste.

Most waste is dumped or disposed of in landfill.

Globally, the percentage of recovered materials being recycled, reused or repurposed is declining.

Waste can negatively affect the environment and human health. It can leak pollutants into the air, water and land, which then impacts plants and animals, and can lead to health concerns for people.

There are also challenges with legacy waste and contamination on discrete Aboriginal communities and ongoing illegal dumping due to their remote settings and a lack of adequate waste and recycling services.

Managing waste and transitioning to a circular economy is more important than ever.

The circular economy means that rather than disposing of things after their use, materials are circulated again through reuse, repair, recycling and re-manufacture. This reduces landfill and the potential for harmful health effects. It can also improve the economy by creating jobs and reducing the demand for extraction of resources to create new materials.

Our waste generation will increase with growth in population, renewable energy projects and waste from extreme climate and weather events.

Key findings from the 2024 report

• Total waste generation in NSW rose from 18.7 million tonnes in 2015–16 to 22.4 million tonnes in 2022–23. This exceeded the pre-pandemic peak of 2018–19 by 72,000 tonnes. This was 1.4 million tonnes (7%) more than in 2021–22.
• On average, we generated 2.7 tonnes of waste per person in 2022–23. This was up from 2.4 tonnes in 2015–16.
• The amount of littered items in NSW is decreasing. This shows a continued decline since a peak in 2018–19 and a decline of 51% from 2021–22. This suggests we are on track to meet the NSW Government’s target of a 60% reduction by 2030.
• Plastic litter also continues to decrease, with a 55% decrease between 2021–22 and 2022–23, exceeding the NSW Government target of a 30% decline for this type of litter by 2025.
• NSW recycles only 13% of its annual plastic waste from a total of 850,000 tonnes.
• The NSW Container Deposit Scheme Return and Earn has collected 15.2 billion containers since the scheme started in 2017. This resulted in the recycling of more than 1.08 million tonnes of material.
• Household waste is the most common form of waste illegally dumped in 2022–23 (61.6%).

Before European colonisation, the lands, waters and skies of what is now NSW were free of modern contaminants.

A contaminated site is a place where the soil or groundwater has been polluted by harmful substances. The level of contaminants usually exceeds what is considered safe for people and the environment.

Some substances are harmful at any level of contamination. This means that any exposure to them creates an unacceptable risk. Such substances include petrol, lead, PFAS and asbestos.

Aboriginal peoples are disproportionately impacted by contamination due to legacy contamination on discrete Aboriginal communities, poor Government housing practices in some communities and ongoing exposure to contaminants.

Many contaminated sites are only identified for remediation when the use of the land changes, such as an apartment development on a former industrial site. The contaminants could have been undetected for a long time. Identifying and managing these legacy contaminated sites will reduce the potential exposure for people and the environment.

Key findings from the 2024 report

• In NSW during 2021–23 the number of regulated contaminated sites remained stable. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) regulated about 202 sites per year in that period.
• In the same period, an average of six sites per year were assessed to be no longer significantly contaminated enough to require regulation. That meant the EPA ended regulation of those sites.
• The cumulative number of sites requiring regulation by the EPA continued to increase, reaching 406 by 2023.
• The cumulative number of sites where regulation by the EPA was ended continued to increase, reaching a total of 203 remediated sites by 2023.
• In 2023, lead blood levels exceeded the national limit in 74% of Aboriginal children and 37% of non-Aboriginal children aged one to four years in Broken Hill.