Bugger Direct Action, households can do it by themselves

A new initiative to help Australian households aim for peak energy efficiency, thermal comfort and zero emissions has been released – and according to Beyond Zero Emissions, it could deliver carbon pollution reductions far beyond Australia’s current targets.

The BZE initiative, launched on Tuesday at the National Energy Efficiency Conference in Sydney, outlines nine steps to “energy freedom” for Australian households, including the use of energy efficiency measures and rooftop solar.

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“Australians are already embracing energy efficiency, as evidenced by the decline in electricity use since 2010 – previous to that it had increased in most years. This trend will no doubt continue as electricity and gas prices continue to rise significantly” said BZE CEO Dr Stephen Bygrave.

Bygrave says that beyond saving households energy and money, the Energy Freedom initiative outlines how Australia’s residential sector can make a substantial contribution to meeting the nation’s current emissions reduction targets.

“More than that, following Energy Freedom will deliver even higher reductions in carbon pollution than Australia’s current targets, aligning us more closely with international actions to combat climate change,” said Dr Bygrave.

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The initiative is also about increasing thermal comfort in a warming world, he adds.

“As we prepare for a summer even hotter than the last, it’s important that our homes are comfortable to live in at the same time as reducing peak energy demand.

“The changing climate means an increase in the extreme heatwaves that endanger our most vulnerable. We need to be planning to ensure that those people can survive in their homes through the Australian summer.”

According to BZE, the nine steps to Energy Freedom are:

·         Insulation

·         Rooftop Solar

·         Lighting with LED’s

·         Draught proofing

·         Hot water systems that use solar or heat-pump technology

·         In home displays – Real-time monitoring of energy use

·         Heating and Cooling efficiently

·         Cooking and Appliances – high efficiency induction cooking

·         Double and triple glazing

Comments

11 responses to “Bugger Direct Action, households can do it by themselves”

  1. Dan Buchler Avatar
    Dan Buchler

    And of course, households can use the money saved from the abolition of the carbon tax to purchase non-RET renewable energy under the GreenChoice scheme. Doing this can make households totally carbon neutral an it will promote new invest,ent in renewables. Just do it!

  2. juxx0r Avatar
    juxx0r

    I don’t know what tin shed you’d have to be living in in Australia to warrant triple glazing. That’s insane. The time weighted delta T in this country just doesn’t approach the 60 degree delta T’s you see all day in the arctic.

    If you need Triple glazing here, then you’ve got bigger problems elsewhere.

    1. Miles Harding Avatar
      Miles Harding

      Not only that, the bricks are on the wrong side of the walls

  3. Alan Baird Avatar
    Alan Baird

    Damned good advice in this article. Energy efficiency is the most rational thing to tackle first. With the demand reduced, alternative energy has an easier task to take care of the majority (or all) of the job, leaving fossil fuel to handle the gap which is what it should be: a smelly non-baseload supply of energy scurrying around on the sidelines looking for scraps. How deliciously ironic if this scenario could come about after all the deniers and coal lovers had promoted the reverse with no tolerance of anything else.

    1. Chris Fraser Avatar
      Chris Fraser

      Ah, you mean the Napthine Government ? Already done.

  4. sunbeamrapier Avatar
    sunbeamrapier

    This is all well and good, but what about those living in rented accommodation? We have a huge number of people living in apartment blocks, where solar is difficult to arrange and where gas may not be an option, and a huge number of people living in rented accommodation where the installation of solar by the tenant is simply not viable.

    1. Dan Buchler Avatar
      Dan Buchler

      They can buy 100% Green power. It’s not all that expensive:. Say three cups off coffee per a week maximum!

    2. Harry Verberne Avatar
      Harry Verberne

      Maybe one requirement that needs to be mandatory is for both new and current apartments to meet of some minimum level of energy efficiency. For new apartment blocks that is easier but existing apartments are another matter but is do-able. In many cases existing apartments have cheap but energy intensive electric heating, window coverings which do not effectively minimise heat ingress in warmer times of the year or heat loss in winter. As well, most older apartments do not have individual water meters so tenants have no incentive or feedback via bills, of their consumption.

    3. Alex Nicolson Avatar
      Alex Nicolson

      Check our Earthworker Co-op,
      They are creating solar heat pumps that can be owned and then moved by renters and also interest free loans for un/under employed through and arranged ME bank.

      1. sunbeamrapier Avatar
        sunbeamrapier

        Good suggestion – but unfortunately not suitable for an apartment with instant gas hot water. It would be good to see solar power installed on the roof of this block – its a big flat roof and not shaded by any trees. But to do this we’d need some sort of co-op agreement and a power provider prepared to pay a reasonable price for generated power. Units would still draw from the grid but at least we could offset this with solar energy. If it made financial sense it could be sold to body corporates.

  5. John P Avatar
    John P

    The ‘brick veneer’ is a good choice for the example above.
    This format is the most common and the most energy expensive.

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