How can it be that the land of clear blue skies and sunshine barely uses solar power as a source of energy?
A recent report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that home energy consumption is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Australia due to the heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially coal, to produce electricity.
Practically all Australian homes (99.9 per cent) use electricity. Electricity use per person rose nearly one-fifth (19 per cent) throughout the period 2001-02 to 2006-07. This increase was found to be mainly due to larger home sizes, more appliances and IT equipment in homes and increased use of heaters and coolers.
Solar energy was used by 7 per cent of Australian homes for heating water in 2008. This was a 60 per cent increase from 2005 when 4 per cent of homes used solar energy for hot water systems.
Gas was the second most common source of energy in Australian homes. The use of gas increased from 57 per cent of homes in 2002 to 61 per cent in March 2008.
Across Australia, there has been a downward trend in the use of wood as a source of energy in homes, with use decreasing from 18 per cent in 2002 to 14 per cent in 2008.
Almost nine in ten Australians said they took steps to limit their personal energy use in 2007-08. Women were more likely than men to take steps to limit their energy use (90 per cent as opposed to 85 per cent). People with a bachelor degree were most likely to take steps to limit their energy use (92 per cent), compared to people without a non-school qualification (85 per cent).
Of the people who did not take steps to limit their personal energy use, the main reason reported was that it was already low enough. People aged 18-24 years were less likely than other age groups to limit their use, with more than a quarter (26 per cent) reporting that they did not limit their use.