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The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Regulator has just released the GEMS Data Modelling Project 2022 report.

This report summarises modelling of the benefits of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 (GEMS Act). The GEMS Act sets Minimum Energy Performance Standards and energy rating labelling requirements to help Australians make informed choices when buying appliances and equipment for their homes and businesses.

The modelling found that between the financial years 2011-12 and 2021-22, the GEMS Act:

• saved Australian businesses and households between $12 to $18 billion in energy costs
• saved between 45 to 67 terawatt-hours of energy, which is around the same amount of electricity used by all Tasmanian, Northern Territory and South Australian homes during the same period.
• avoided the release of between 40 to 60 mega tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is around the same amount of emissions produced by Australia’s entire manufacturing industry in 2021.

The GEMS model arrived at these results by comparing actual energy use to two theoretical alternative scenarios if the regulations had not been implemented:

• Savings 1 Scenario – Lower Efficiency Improvement. In this scenario, there is little improvement in energy efficiency of each regulated product type without GEMS regulation.
• Savings 2 Scenario – Higher Efficiency Improvement. In this scenario, there are international or market-specific trends that improve the energy efficiency of regulated product types without GEMS regulation.

This modelling demonstrates the success of the GEMS Act at improving the energy efficiency of the products available to Australians and helping homes and businesses to reduce their energy bills. It reinforces the importance of the GEMS Act in Australia’s efforts to tackle climate change.

Visit GEMS Data Modelling Project 2022 to read more about this model, including the method and data used to make these calculations.