Switch on Gas - Revised Gas Workplan for 2007 to 2007/08

Downloading the PDF Version

The full document is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view it. The Adobe Reader is a free product.

Download Switch on Gas - Revised Gas Workplan for 2007 to 2007/08 (200611-revised-gas-workplan.pdf - 156 kB)

If you are unable to access this document, please contact the Australian Greenhouse Office to organise a suitable alternative format.

Summary

The Switch on Gas strategy, endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Energy and published in December 2004 was a blueprint jointly endorsed by government and industry outlining the actions to enhance energy efficiency of gas appliances and equipment over the next 10 years. The launch of the strategy committed:

Governments to incorporating gas end-use product efficiency into a regulatory environment similar to that which already exists for electrical products; and
Industry to providing world-class products within a legislative scheme for the energy efficiency of gas products, with formal responsibilities stipulated in state and territory legislation.

Switch on Gas sets the strategic direction for what has come to be known as the Equipment Energy Efficiency Gas Programme (E3 Gas), a distinct element within the broader Equipment Energy Efficiency Programme (E3). The energy efficiency of electrical and gas products is now addressed by the one Trans-Tasman scheme covering all Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand. The aim of the Strategy is to improve the efficiency of, and therefore to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gas appliances and equipment.

The first Work Plan under the Switch on Gas strategy was published in April 2005 to cover the period 2005/06 to 2007/08. Key elements of this work plan which have been progressed in the first year are:

The formation of the E3 Gas Committee, comprising representatives from the Commonwealth, State & Territory and New Zealand governments to coordinate the implementation of the program (see Appendix 3);
A testing program for gas water heaters to underpin the development of new test standards and new MEPS and labelling requirements;
Market research on consumer awareness and the influence of gas energy rating labels (as part of wider market research that also included electrical labelling);
Investigation of options for implementing a nationally consistent legislative scheme for regulating the energy efficiency of gas appliances and equipment.

This Work Plan, which is an updated version, contains revised programme elements for the final 18 months of the original 3 year work programme. The update is as consequence of;

The administrative and regulatory basis of the gas appliance efficiency programme;
New information about gas appliance technology and testing;
Gas consumer response to energy labels.

This revised document is supported and approved by the Ministerial Council on Energy and by all relevant jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand.

This page last modified 30 October 2006