A fifth of Australia’s fossil fuel facilities emit more greenhouse gas than originally estimated, report says

A fifth of Australia's major coal, gas and oil facilities emit significantly more greenhouse gas than originally estimated when they submitted their plans to governments for approval, an investigation has found.

In the worst cases, some fossil fuel developments now emit more than 20 times what was expected before they were given the green light, according to a report by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF).

Campaigners say the emissions blowout, documented in an 18-month project by ACF researchers and Australian National University students, demonstrates a lack of proper regulation of carbon pollution at a state or federal level.

While emissions estimates are included in many development applications, there is no requirement that companies keep their carbon pollution to the estimated level.

The ACF lead environmental investigator, Annica Schoo, said it was evidence policies that were promised to keep a lid on industrial emissions, such as the federal government's safeguard mechanism, were not effective in their current form.

She said that no state or federal authority was dealing with the issue adequately despite some attempts by the New South Wales independent planning commission.

"These emissions blowouts matter because the extra pollution is supercharging our climate problem," she said. "I don't think we can expect companies to know exactly what their emissions are going to be in advance, but I think it needs to be in the ballpark of what is approved. One in five polluting significantly more than estimated is not in the ballpark.