Gas provides almost as much energy as electricity to Australian households and costs 60 per cent less, new figures issued today show.
Australian Pipelines and Gas Association Chief Executive Cheryl Cartwright said the figures, from the
Australian Bureau of Statistics publication Energy Accounts Australia 2013-14 (cat no. 4604.0), showed that gas and electricity supplied almost the same amount of energy to households.
“The ABS found that gas, including both natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, provided 205 petajoules (PJ) of energy to households in 2013-14,” Ms Cartwright said.
“Over the same period, electricity (including rooftop solar) provided 216PJ to households.
“Importantly, those 205PJ of gas cost households a total of $6.2 billion, while the cost of the 216PJ of electricity was substantially higher at $16.1 billion.
“That means a petajoule of gas cost households $30.2 million in 2013-14 while households paid $74.5 million for a petajoule of electricity. That’s a significant difference.
“These figures are a reminder that if we are looking to reduce our household energy bills, we should use gas for as much of our energy needs as possible.
“Using more gas would also have the additional benefit of reducing our carbon emissions, and that is also a very good reason for households to switch to gas.
“Gas used in the home has around one quarter the emissions of electricity from the grid, which is predominately generated from coal-fired power stations.”
The ABS publication shows that total household energy demand was 1054PJ and total household cost was $47.3 billion. Petrol and diesel products accounted for the majority of household net use of energy.
Energy Accounts Australia 2013-14 is available here.
The figures used in this release can be found in the following tables in the downloads section:
Australian Net Use of Energy, 2013-14; Australian Monetary Use of Energy, 2013-14
Media Contacts:
Cheryl Cartwright
APGA Chief Executive
0419 996 066
John Field
Field Public Relations
0418 819 527
