Promoting energy efficiency
Energy efficiency is a critical way for Australia to waste less energy, reduce our demand on energy resources and lower our greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing the amount of energy we use is widely believed to be the quickest, simplest and most cost-effective way to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The International Energy Agency suggests that energy efficiency could deliver 65 per cent of all the global greenhouse gas abatement needed to reach a target of 450 parts per million of CO2.
Energy efficiency can deliver economic and financial benefits, supporting low-pollution Australian industries, creating new goods and services, helping those most vulnerable to living costs to limit the impact of energy costs and reducing the cost of cutting our emissions, now and over the long term.
The Australian Government has an extensive and busy energy efficiency agenda. Our work includes regulating for more efficient industries, providing incentive programs, trialing a more efficient kind of energy supply, providing a wide range of information resources and working on improving the energy efficiency of the Government’s own operations.
Our energy efficiency strategy
The National Strategy on Energy Efficiency is a landmark agreement between Australian, state and territory governments setting out a work plan for energy efficiency improvements in all sectors of the Australian economy.
The strategy is supported by a series of joint government groups that coordinate much of our buildings and appliances energy efficiency efforts.
The Prime Minister has also established a Task Group on Energy Efficiency to advise the Australian Government on options to improve Australia’s energy efficiency.
Regulating for more efficient industries
Australian, state and territory governments are regularly introducing, tightening and improving the energy efficiency of our buildings, appliances and equipment.
Our homes, workplaces and government buildings are responsible for a fifth of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions with emissions rising rapidly, making them a major priority for the Australian Government. Our work includes increasing energy efficiency requirements in our building codes, ensuring environmental information is available on the property market, setting out a pathway for improving our buildings over time and much more.
Governments also regularly, introduce, review and increase the standard of energy efficiency which a wide range of products must perform to. A program of compulsory minimum energy performance standards and energy labelling now covers more than 10 product groups and includes more than 30,000 registered models with more being considered.
These measures will deliver estimated energy savings of 32,000 gigawatt hours per year by 2020, more than 14 per cent of all electricity generated in Australia.
Find out more standards applied to appliances and equipment and lighting, and search for an energy efficient appliance.
Programs
The Australian Government has made a range of programs and rebates available to homes and businesses to help them waste less energy and become more energy independent.
Support for businesses is also available from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research through Clean Business Australia and the Green Car Innovation Fund and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism through the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program.
Smart electricity supply
Smarter electricity grids can improve electricity reliability, quickly identify and self-heal problems in the network, manage demand and voltage, allow consumers to manage their electricity consumption, allow for programmable smart appliances and more effectively integrate renewable energy.
A demonstration project in Newcastle is expected to lead to Australia-wide advances in energy efficiency and provide information to help support a new generation of smarter energy use.