Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, today launched a bold multi-billion dollar plan to substantially upgrade the energy efficiency of Australia's 7.4 million homes over the next decade, significantly reducing greenhouse emissions, household expenditure and energy infrastructure investment.

Senator Milne said "Energy efficiency is the fastest and cheapest way to reduce greenhouse emissions, yet we've barely scratched the surface of what can be achieved. The EASI initiative is about making it easy for Australians to save money and the environment without investing their own time and money.

"If governments adopted this model, Premier Iemma's new power station announced yesterday would be unnecessary. Efficiency gains would more than make up for the projected demand increases, and greenhouse emissions would fall, not rise."

The Energy Efficiency Access and Savings Initiative, or EASI, would:
• organise a free energy audit by an accredited auditor;
• advise householders of all efficiency opportunities with a payback period of ten years or less;
• organise and pay the upfront costs of implementing cost-effective opportunities;
• collect repayments as a proportion of savings on the home's energy bills over a ten year period. Repayments will be less than the savings on energy bills so that no householders will ever be "out of pocket".

Typical energy efficiency refurbishments would include items such as ceiling, wall and floor insulation, solar hot water systems, efficient lights and shading of windows.

If fully implemented, EASI would reduce greenhouse emissions by close to 30 million tonnes each year, achieving almost 10% of the emissions reductions required by the Greens' target to reduce emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020.

EASI is designed to be cost neutral. Householders will pay no upfront costs and repayments will always less than savings on energy bills. Government costs, excluding administrative costs, will be recouped, shifting today's surpluses to tomorrow. EASI would also deliver considerable economic benefits, saving the economy over $3.2 billion a year in household energy expenditure, increasing employment and economic activity in the efficiency sector; and deferring investment in new energy generation capacity.

Senator Milne said "This bold plan is the kind of visionary strategy that is necessary if we are to achieve the massive emissions reductions we need to avoid runaway climate change. It goes far beyond anything offered by any other party, demonstrating that the Greens are the only party seriously grappling with the climate change challenge."

For a copy of the policy document or a 1 page briefing note, download it here or contact:
Tim Hollo on 0437 587 562

Briefing note
Making it 'EASI': The Energy Efficiency Access and Savings Initiative

Energy efficiency is the cheapest and fastest way of reducing greenhouse emissions, yet little is being done by Australian governments to enable businesses or householders to make it happen. We need to make it EASI.

EASI is a major infrastructure initiative developed by the Australian Greens to substantially upgrade the energy efficiency of all of Australia's 7.4 million existing homes over the course of a decade.

EASI will reduce greenhouse emissions by close to 30 million tonnes, equating to over 10% of Australia's current stationary energy emissions. This one policy will achieve almost 10% of the reductions needed to meet the Greens' science-based target of reducing Australia's greenhouse emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020.

EASI will deliver considerable economic benefits through:
• lower energy bills, saving the economy over $3.2 billion a year;
• increased employment and economic activity in the efficiency sector; and
• deferred investment in new energy generation capacity – if these and other efficiency gains are achieved, we won't need to build new power stations.

EASI will install items such as:
• insulation of ceilings, wall cavities and floors;
• efficient hot water systems, especially solar;
• efficient lighting;
• ceiling fans;
• draught control devices; and
• hot water pipe insulation and water saving showerheads.

EASI will make all of Australia's homes more comfortable and, by targeting low income houses first, will tackle energy poverty across Australia.

EASI will make energy efficiency upgrades happen. While it already makes sense for people to make their homes more energy efficient, most people don't do so because:
• upfront costs are high;
• the low cost of energy makes efficiency a low economic priority;
• most people lack basic information; and
• the people making the decisions on energy efficiency investments are often not the people who pay the energy bills.

EASI leaps these barriers by making efficiency upgrades 'EASI' for people. EASI will:
• organise a free energy audit;
• advise householders of all efficiency opportunities with a payback period of ten years or less;
• organise and pay the upfront costs of implementing these cost-effective opportunities;
• collect repayments as a proportion of savings on the home's energy bills over a ten year period, indexed to CPI. Repayments will be less than the savings on energy bills so that no householders will ever be "out of pocket".

EASI is a costed program which aims to make the best use of the wealth created by Australia's resources boom. The very significant cost of the program will be recouped over a 20 year period, shifting today's budget surpluses to tomorrow while tackling a fundamental environmental, economic and social problem – the energy inefficiency of our housing stock.

You can download the full policy here.