THE federal government gives just over $4 billion in direct subsidies to mining companies each year, mainly in the form of cheap fuel and tax breaks for building roads and railways, a report by the Australia Institute think tank said.

The biggest single subsidy passing from the general public to miners comes in the form of fuel-tax credits, formerly named the diesel fuel rebate, which were valued at $1.89 billion in 2009-10, the institute's report said.

The comment follows the Federal Government's release yesterday of her independent review of its Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which will offer up to $10 billion to companies in the renewable energy sector struggling to secure capital.

Ms Broadbent says Australia risks being left behind in the global shift toward renewable energy and carbon reductions.

Read More: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/australia-behind-on-climate-change-broadbent/story-e6freonx-1226331126913

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will write loans with terms of more than a decade, providing a potential complication to Tony Abbott's vow to scrap the carbon pricing scheme in favour of his direct action plan if he wins power at the next election.

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/green-loans-to-flow-before-next-federal-poll/story-e6frg6xf-1226330844353

AUSTRALIA'S greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise last year, driven by an increase in vehicle use and gases leaking from coalmines, federal government data show.

The nation released 546 million tonnes more carbon dioxide than its land mass absorbed last year, not including the data from changes in land use and logging, which is recorded separately.

This is a 0.6 per cent increase on the 2010 emissions figure, still below the nation's peak in 2008.