• Aussie homes are directly responsible for one-fifth of the national greenhouse gas emissions.
• About 8 million domestic households are contributing the bulk of that 20%.
• Scalable P2P energy trading technology is emerging to lighten the energy load.

Trying to stay cool this hot summer hauled up with the aircon on?

It’s literally costing you thousands of dollars a year despite lower energy prices and conscientious efforts to reduce power consumption at our homes.

Aussies spent an average of A$335 per quarter on electricity and A$234 per quarter on gas in 2021, a Canstar Consumer Pulse Report found.

PowerHousing, which facilitates a national network of regulated Community Housing Providers (CHPs) that develop and manage affordable housing across Australia, suggests that 8 million domestic homes lack current energy efficiency standards. 

According to a government report, Aussie households are directly responsible for some 20% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions with those aforementioned 8 million homes contributing the bulk of that. 

The reason is that most Aussie homes were built prior to the 2005 introduction of nation-wide energy performance standards.

While there are day-to-day tasks people can do to reduce power costs, such as turning off appliances at the switch, some companies are taking it upon themselves to reduce our collective burden on emissions.

Powerledger is one such company. It has developed the world’s first renewable energy blockchain trading platform, which allows consumers and producers to track, trace, and trade every kilowatt of energy that is produced off-grid.

Powerledger allows peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading between household neighbours, businesses, and the grid with technology that is scalable, and allows power to be bought and sold in real time.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has said P2P trading allows greater grid flexibility and could also increase revenue for energy-generating households, which are known as prosumers. 

In some cases, it could allow communities to withstand power shortages or transmission network damage, improving energy access in some cases.

As the cost of maintaining energy inefficient homes becomes ever expensive, it could be people power via P2P trading that effectively reduces home energy usage.