Australia needs to move now on insulation and solar hot water

Clean Energy Council
13 February 2009

NATIONAL: Australia needs to get on with making households more energy efficient by accelerating deployment of simple but efficient technologies like solar hot water and insulation backed in the Rudd government's economic stimulus package. Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Matthew Warren said "delays in getting these key aspects of the package through only stalls fundamental energy efficiency improvements that will help save money, jobs, the economy and the environment".

He said "this is creating confusion and uncertainty for the thousands of Australians wanting to take advantage of proposed incentives not to mention the thousands of Australians employed to manufacture and deploy these technologies." The energy efficiency component of the government's proposed stimulus package will help Australians cut their energy bills by at least 15-20 percent.

Warren added that "investment in smart energy solutions for homes and businesses can only serve to cushion Australia from any difficult financial times ahead by saving money and jobs across the nation". "It's common sense really - energy efficiency measures are all about being smarter with what we have and reducing demand overall. This will have the added benefit of keeping investment here and protecting local jobs" explained Warren.

The Clean Energy Council is working with all levels of government to deliver the right legislation and ensure energy efficiency and clean energy solutions are deployed nationally.