14 September
2006 - The world could achieve significant reductions
in greenhouse gases simply by changing the ‘standby’
power standards for household appliances like
TVs and computers, Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, told an international
forum in Zurich today.
“Standby power is one of the
silent enemies of the global climate. Even when
you’re not using them and appliances look like
they are turned off, they are often in standby
mode and are consuming electricity – generating
greenhouse gases,” Senator Campbell said.
“In Australia, 10 per cent of
power is spent keeping household appliances on
‘standby’. The average Australian home has about
40 such appliances, together generating about
1000kg of greenhouse gas each year.
“However, by changing appliance
standards, we can reduce standby power consumption
by at least half without any real impact on consumer
behaviour and our appliances will still operate
effectively. In Australian alone, this would save
the Australian community more than 2.5 million
tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and about $350
million annually.
“Australia was the first country
to publicly pursue the ‘one-watt’ standby power
target identified by the IEA and by 2012 only
appliances that use acceptable levels of power
while in standby mode will be eligible for sale
here.”
Speaking at an invitation-only
climate change summit in Zurich, Senator Campbell
invited his international counterparts to a conference
Australia is hosting on standby power in November.
“The Standby Conference 2006
will foster global cooperation by seeking to develop
an internationally consistent model to address
excessive standby power consumption and will build
on past efforts by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) and the International Energy Agency”.
“The conference is being supported
by APEC, the IEA and the Asia Pacific Partnership
on Clean Development and Climate. It’s another
example of Australia’s practical approach to international
action on climate change and the role low emission
technologies can play in addressing climate change.”
Senator Campbell is in Zurich
to attend an informal Ministerial climate change
summit, bringing together Ministers from about
30 countries to discuss a global response to climate
change ahead of the annual meeting of the United
Nations Climate Change Convention in Nairobi in
November.
For more information on the
Standby Conference 2006 visit http://standby2006.energyrating.gov.au
Rob Broadfield
