Commitment to end sale of inefficient hot water systems welcome: WWF
21 Aug 2007
WWF has welcomed today's commitment by the Australian Labor Party to halt the sale of inefficient hot water systems as an important policy in the fight to reduce Australia’s carbon footprint.
Inefficient hot water systems on average account for around a third of most households' energy use, and improving the efficiency of these systems would greatly reduce household greenhouse gas emissions across the country.
"Using the Australian sun to heat our water is a real no-brainer," said WWF-Australia CEO Greg Bourne.
"For too long consumers have been sold hot water systems that require far too much energy to run, cost thousands of dollars over their lifetimes, and are a major source of greenhouse pollution. The sale of these inefficient hot water systems must be stopped."
While many European countries are starting to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, Australia's emissions are continuing to grow by around seven megatonnes a year.
But Mr Bourne said introducing energy efficiency measures, such as replacing inefficient hot water systems, could save around seven megatonnes of greenhouse pollution every year and help Australia to stabilise and then reduce its emissions.
Find out more
Charlie Stevens, Press Officer, WWF-Australia
Phone: 02 8202 1274
Mobile: 0424 649 689
Email: cstevens@wwf.org.au
Paul Toni, Program Leader Climate Change, WWF-Australia
Mobile: 0410 086 986
