Australia is on track to meet its Kyoto commitments on greenhouse gas emissions - but electricity and transport emissions are soaring.

Government data released Tuesday showed Australia produced 585 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2007, six per cent more than in 1990.

Under the Kyoto deal, Australia can increase its emissions by eight per cent of 1990 levels by 2012.

But the data shows it's only a reduced rate of land clearing which is keeping emissions in check.

Emissions from electricity, petrol, farming and industry are all increasing.

If land clearing is taken out of the equation, emissions have risen 31 per cent since 1990.

Electricity emissions have increased by 47 per cent since 1990.

Emissions from transport - largely cars - was next in line, increasing 27 per cent.

Per capita emissions are 28 tonnes per year, among the highest in the world.

The data is contained in the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2006, which includes figures for 2007 and is partly based on estimates.

Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the report showed there were challenges ahead.

"We have a lot of work to do in the coming years to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

Senator Wong said the reduced rate of land clearing had been a significant factor in restraining emissions, but that this option would be less useful in future calculations.

She reiterated her support for an emissions trading scheme, but would not be drawn on whether petrol or agriculture would be included.

Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt said the data showed Australia had long been on track to meet its Kyoto commitments due to "real action under the coalition".

Greens climate change spokeswoman Christine Milne was concerned by the data.

"There's no good news for Australia in our greenhouse gas inventory, what we're showing is increased emissions," she said.

Senator Milne said the data showed transport emissions responded to price - and coal was the main culprit behind increasing emissions.

Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Tony Mohr said if Australia met its Kyoto targets it was only because of a reduction in the rate of land clearing, caused by various state bans.

"We got a real free kick with reductions in land clearing emissions," Mr Mohr said.

He said Australia won the most generous target in the developed world in Kyoto. Other countries had to reduce their emissions.

The international community would be unlikely to let this happen again so Australia would have to cut emissions, Mr Mohr said.

He said per capita emissions were very high.

"Twenty-eight tonnes per person per year is still amongst one of the highest in the world," he said.

This was higher than the US, Japan and EU countries. Mr Mohr struggled to think of a country with higher per capita emissions.

"I think there's a couple of funny little countries ... some of the Eastern-bloc countries who have particularly heavy industries," he said.

The data inventory said the magnitude of per-capita emissions was caused by Australia's reliance on coal-fired electricity, high historical levels of land clearing, and large resource and agricultural industries.