Australia's energy industry representatives have admitted Australia does have some of the world's dirtiest power stations and is the world's worst per capita greenhouse polluter.
According to the study by the Washington-based Centre for Global Development, Australian power plants produce more carbon dioxide emissions per person each year than the United States, and almost five times as much as China.
But clean coal advocates say the Australian energy industry is working on a cleaner, greener future.
Early on Wednesday morning, 15 Greenpeace activists snuck into the Munmorah Power Station on the New South Wales central coast.
They chained themselves to the plant's coal-feeder belt. All were arrested, but they claim to have reached their objective of disrupting production at the plant.
Greenpeace says the Munmorah Station represents an old style of power production and its carbon emissions are harmful to the environment.
Greenpeace campaign director Steve Campbell says the activity is part of a fight against coal-fired electricity generation, and he has warned other electricity generators to expect similar treatment.
"Greenpeace around the world has been campaigning against coal for some time and in the last couple of years of course we've been very active to stop the opening of a coal mine in the Hunter Valley, which is Anvil Hill," he said.
"But we are also escalating our focus on coal-fired power generation because clearly this is the biggest issue for Australia in terms of our own CO2 emissions."
Bayswater and Eraring
Two other New South Wales power stations could be on their hit list. The Bayswater and Eraring plants in the Hunter Valley have been identified within a list of the top 100 greenhouse gas emitters in the world.
They are named in an international study of the world's 50,000 power stations, which ranks Australia as the world's worst greenhouse gas emitter on a per capita basis.
The study says Australian power plants produce more than 11 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per person each year.
By comparison, the United States comes in second at more than nine tonnes per person, while China is down the list with two tonnes per person.
Frank van Schagen is the head of the Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development. He says the numbers speak for themselves.
"Australia's average efficiency for coal-fired generation is about 36 per cent in energy conversion - internationally, if you took a global average, it's about 30," he said.
"So Australia has some of the best, and it also has some of the oldest, but it doesn't have the worst, shall we say."
Each of these stations produce more than 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The operators of the two plants declined to comment on the study.
Brown or black coal
Both the Bayswater and Eraring Plants burn black coal.
To Greens Senator Bob Brown, the whole picture of CO2 emissions from electricity production must include the impact of brown coal-fired power stations such as the Hazelwood plant in Victoria.
"It doesn't take into account the fact that some power stations are putting out two, three, four times as much as electricity as others," Senator Brown said.
"When you look at it per unit of electricity, those brown coal-burning stations in Victoria go right to the dirtiest top of the league.
"Coal itself is a huge menace in terms of greenhouse gas production going into the atmosphere and the threat that's now creating for the world's environment and economy.
"But brown coal is 30 to 50 per cent worse in greenhouse gas emissions for the amount of electricity being produced, even than black coal."
But Mr van Schagen says the future of coal-fired electricity generation is not all bleak.
He says the rapid development of clean coal technologies is making it an environmentally sustainable option.
"What we have is a legacy in Australia of a dependence on cheap coal-fired power electricity, and what's been happening over the last number of years is organisations such as mine and others around the world have been working to look at potential ways of reducing emissions from power stations," he said.
"Hence we have activities that are looking at capturing the CO2 and storing some in aquifers, so potentially reducing emissions from coal-fired power stations to, say, 10 per cent or less than they currently emit."
Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor's environment spokesman Peter Garrett were not available for comment.
Munmorah operator Delta Electricity says Greenpeace's actions have not disrupted power generation.
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