Report warns Australians must stop using gas to hit net-zero emissions by 2050

Australians are being urged to stop using natural gas and switch to electric household items if the country “is to have any hope” of reaching its 2050 net-zero deadline.

Australians are being urged to stop using natural gas and switch to electric household items if the country “is to have any hope” of reaching its 2050 net-zero deadline, a new report has warned.

While tens of thousands of properties are still being hooked up to gas, electric homes are cheaper to run and better for health, the Grattan Institute’s Getting Off Gas report has revealed.

The report has called on state and federal governments to set a date for “the end of gas”.

It has asked the governments to provide subsidies and low-interest loans to homeowners who use electric appliances such as hot-water systems, cooktops and heaters.

“There are new homes being added to the gas network every day,” the report said.

“Governments need to step in and generate greater momentum towards an all-electric residential sector.”

Grattan is urging governments to ban new gas connections to homes, shops and small businesses, while helping Aussies plan to switch their homes to electric.

Australians are being urged to stop using natural gas and switch to electric household items if the country “is to have any hope” of reaching its 2050 net-zero deadline. Picture: Supplied

However, it claimed this would only work if a deadline “well before 2050” is also set to phase out the sale of gas appliances, so the last remaining appliances in homes are replaced with electric when they reach the end of their life rather than prematurely.

The federal government has promised to cut Australia’s emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, with a goal of reaching net zero by 2050.

More than five million Australian households are still on gas, Grattan said.

While the government promises to stick to this deadline, only the ACT has banned new gas connections.

The report reveals the number of residential gas customers in NSW and the ACT has grown by 37 per cent and in Victoria by 22 per cent since 2010.

In Victoria alone up to 200 houses a day will need to stop using gas to reach zero homes on the fossil fuel network by 2050.

Report author and Grattan Institute Energy and Climate Change Program Director Tony Wood said there is “no time to waste”.

“It will be complex for governments and for many people and businesses – but it is absolutely do-able, and further delay will only make this necessary transition harder,” he said.

Australians who are strictly electric have cheaper bills, the study found. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Mr Wood said the government’s $1b household energy upgrades fund “will make a big difference” in getting more Aussies using electric appliances.

Grattan suggests the government should provide “low-interest loans” or other finance arrangements for homeowners using electric appliances, and tax incentives for landlords to replace gas appliances for rentals.

Aussies who switch to electric appliances can save hundreds of dollars at bill time, with more than 30 per cent of households already having made the switch.

By switching from gas to electric, Grattan said an average household could save between $12,000 and $14,000 over ten years in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, an average Sydney household could save up to $7000.

“There will be costs to the great energy transition, and governments will need to decide who pays, how much, and when,” Mr Wood said.

“But we must do this – for our hip-pockets, our health, and our environment.”