Labor's home insulation plan to cut less than half emissions first promised

Age
11 February 2011, Page: 4

THE federal government's troubled home insulation scheme which cost $1.45 billion to install insulation in ceilings and then hundreds of millions more fixing bungled installation jobs will do far less for the environment than previously claimed. In its latest emissions projections released this week, the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency estimates the program will reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 14.4 million tonnes from 2010 to 2020. That is less than half the carbon abatement predicted for the program by the government a year ago, when Labor was defending it against criticism over waste and faulty installations.

A fact sheet issued by the Department says one of the main reasons for the downward revision is that 1.2 million houses were insulated rather than the 1.9 million originally expected. The other main reason is that the department believes more home owners would have installed their own ceiling insulation over the next few years without the $1600 taxpayer funded rebates. "The estimate of how many homes would have been insulated in each year without the program has been improved and incorporated", the fact sheet says.

The Department also believes less energy will be saved than first expected because some householders will use the money saved on heating from insulation by using more electricity for other purposes. Under the latest estimates, annual emissions reductions from the program will peak at 2.4 million tonnes this year and fall to zero by 2021. That suggests the department believes if the taxpayer funded scheme had not been in place, the extra 1.2 million houses would have all been insulated by 2021.

The opposition's climate change spokesman, Greg Hunt, said the figures showed the program "not only electrified roofs, burnt down properties and contributed to tragedies, it dramatically failed to achieve its objectives of reducing emissions". Mr Hunt said the government had promised to cut up to 50 million tonnes of emissions but was delivering 14.4 million tonnes at a huge cost. The home insulation program was designed as an economic stimulus measure, but the government also promoted it as a way of significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions by improving the energy efficiency of houses.

The latest figures are the first time the government has published separate estimates for the insulation scheme. Earlier estimates combined it with two smaller rebate programs. In late 2009, the Environment Department said the three schemes would cut emissions by 49.4 million tonnes to 2020. In early 2010, a Treasury report said the schemes would cut emissions by 35 million tonnes to 2020. The government closed the program last February but still funds inspections and repairs. Its parliamentary secretary for climate change, Mark Dreyfus, was not available for comment.