Greenhouse gas emissions from energy production across eastern Australia fell last year, as less coal was burnt,  a new report found.

New South Wales led the way in the cuts, due mainly to the commissioning of three small gas-powered plants at Colongra on the Central Coast, Uranquity near Wagga Wagga and Tallawarra in the Illawarra.

Altogether, carbon emissions from energy production shrank by 1.8 percent across the eastern states from their 2008 level, according to a report by The Climate Group, which monitors weekly changes in power production.

“Any decrease in emissions is good news and 5.3 million tonnes is a substantial saving,” Australian Director of The Climate Group, Rupert Posner, was quoted as telling the Sydney Morning Herald. ”If we were to continue to cut by this much each year, emissions from energy would be almost 20 per cent lower by 2020.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the whole story as low rates of growth have helped keep emissions down. As the economy returns to more robust levels of growth, continued reductions will be much harder to achieve unless we start to change the way we produce and use energy in a much more meaningful way.”