Petrol consumption has become one of the most important sustainability issues forAustralia. The central contention in this article is whether Australia's current FringeBenefits Tax (FBT) regime is promoting unnecessary mileage (and use of petrol) insalary packaged vehicles to obtain tax...

If long-term greenhouse gas emissions in Australia are to be reduced, renewable energy is likely to be critical. This is particularly so if deep cuts are eventually implemented. Current government policies ( including emissions trading and electricity, the feed-in tariffs announced in 2008), are...

If long-term greenhouse gas emissions in Australia are to be reduced, renewable energy is likely to be critical. This is particularly so if deep cuts are eventually implemented. Current government policies ( including emissions trading and electricity, the feed-in tariffs announced in 2008), are...

This paper examines global carbon dioxide (CO2) efficiency by employing a stochastic cost frontier analysis of about 170 countries in 1997 and 2007. The main contribution lies in providing a new approach to environmental efficiency estimation, in which the efficiency estimates quantify the...

The life-cycle analysis (LCA) of photovoltaic (PV) systems is an important tool to quantify the potential environmental advantage of using solar technologies versus more traditional technologies, especially the ones relying on non-renewable fossil fuel sources.

With declining system costs and assuming a short energy payback period, photovoltaics (PV) should, at face value, be able to make a meaningful contribution to reducing the emission intensity of Australia’s electricity system. However, solar is an intermittent power source and households remain...

This paper examines the relationship between space heating energy efficiency and two related but distinct measures; greenhouse mitigation, and peak demand. The historic role of Melbourne’s space heating provides an opportunity to assess whether improvements in energy efficiency lead to...

Shifting consumer preferences towards ‘green’ consumption is promoted by many governments and environmental groups. Rebound effects, which reduce the effectiveness of such actions, are estimated for cost-saving ‘green’ consumption choices using Australian data. Cases examined are:...

This paper addresses the question whether the results of input-output (IO) impact analyses differ (and to what extent) when a framework in current prices or in constant prices is used. We consider the effect of an exogenous stimulus of final demand in current prices on (a) gross output in...