Australia to Kick the Carbon Habit
Tags: Appliances, Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, Energy Efficient, Heating, Home, Insulation, Lighting, Loans, Media
Australia's environment minister, Peter Garrett, celebrated World Environment Day by announcing three new initiatives to help householders fight climate change while keeping their wallets full. The initiatives include:
- a new television labelling scheme to enable consumers to identify the most energy efficient sets at point of sale
- a new guide to help householders and in particular renovators identify ways to incorporate energy saving measures into their homes; and
- the accelerated phase-out of traditional incandescent light bulbs
The announcement was held in response to new figures which show a predicted increase of 56% in household energy consumption by 2020. Garrett urged citizens to react strongly to the new figures and begin to take action immediately. With a forecast of 4 million homes and 1,000 million square metres of floor space by 2020, the announcement seems entirely appropriate.
The minister stressed the importance of giving consumers energy efficient alternatives to usual household appliances, lighting, heating and electrical devices. One of the biggest energy gobblers is the television. Next to heating, refrigeration and lighting, the television is the fourth greatest user of electricity. Officials predict the amount of energy used for televisions will double by 2014.
Garrett came to the end of the announcement with encouraging words: "For more than 11 years, the previous Government sat on its hands when it came to dealing with climate change and helping Australians take steps to reduce the size of their carbon footprint. Since coming to office, the Rudd Government has announced and funded $1 billion in measures including our Green Loans program, assistance for landlords to install insulation in rental homes and the expansion of labelling and new standards for energy-efficient appliances.
"On World Environment Day we want to help all Australians 'kick the carbon habit."
