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Business Spectator – An energy wake-up call – Giles Parkinson

 An energy wake-up call Dusiness Spectator Giles Parkinson 9 Apr 2009″……t is estimated that Australian energy costs for business amount to up to $40 billion a year, so efficiency improvements of 10 to 20 per cent could save business between $4 billion and $8 billion a year. ….Jutsen says, for this to occur, there needs to be a price incentive, along with other specific measures to support energy efficiency at a broad level in business.

At a conference in Sydney this week, he highlighted Australia’s inefficient model ………….The conference heard from Dian Grueneich, a commissioner from the California Utilities Commission, which regulates utilities in the state which has been on an efficiency drive for the last 30 years.

According to Grueneich, it began when surging fuel prices led to a campaign to install nuclear energy power plants along the coast, at a frequency of around one every 50 miles. The government decided that using less energy might be cheaper than building new plant.

The combination of clear policy, financial incentives, measurement and strict enforcement has meant that over that time, the energy use per capita in California has not increased. In the rest of the US, and in Australia, it has risen an average 50 per cent.

Energy efficiency is now one of the major pillars of the Obama Administration’s efforts to reduce emissions. Jutsen says Australia needs to do the same. “We have to take away the fear of acting alone.”

Business Spectator – An energy wake-up call – Giles Parkinson

April 10, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized